Friday, September 30, 2011

4 More Days 'til the Chicago Marathon. Please support this film!

Here is our new trailer for "Miles & Trials", starring Christina Overbeck, Claudia Becque, Heather Prekop, Amy Haney, Suzanne Ryan and Jacqui Aubert. Please help us get to the finish line by helping us cover our Chicago Marathon production expenses with a donation to our Film Fund. Every dollar will help. Support women's running and female filmmakers! Just click on the PayPal Donate button on the upper-right side of this page!

Friday, September 16, 2011

Nearing the End of Production & 119 Days 'til the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials!

I've just checked our production calendar and the Chicago Marathon on October 9th will be the LAST marathon we'll be filming for "Miles & Trials" as our five star athletes make a last attempt to qualify for 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Team Trials. I'm humbled by the generous support we've received since beginning production in March 2010 - without the donations and word-of-mouth, we simply could not have followed Amy, Christina, Heather, Jacqui and Suzanne for the past two years. Won't you please help us get this thing finished? Just click on the "Donate" button on the upper-right side of this page or visit our website to donate to our Film Fund. Every dollar helps!

Here's a new version of our film trailer with more insight into what these women are trying to accomplish: 

Monday, September 5, 2011

Ramping up for the 2011 Chicago Marathon

Wow, the Chicago Marathon is only a little over a month and a half away! It seems like only yesterday that we were preparing to film some of the girls' attempts to qualify for 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Team Trials at last year's marathon. On October 9th, all five of our women will be racing and hoping to go under 2:46:00 to qualify.  Heather Prekop and Christina Overbeck Crawford are only two and three minutes shy of an OTQ, respectively. And Suzanne Ryan, our mom of four recently placed third in the Rock 'n' Roll Chicago Half Marathon with a time of 1:19. If she doubles that time in the marathon, she'll qualify for Trials with an "A" standard! Here's a video about Suzanne:


Meeting our Running Heroes
In the year and a half since we began production on "Miles & Trials", we've traveled to races in other states and met some awesome race organizers and other folks in the running industry. Best of all, we've had the opportunity to meet and interview women from around the United States who have the same dream: to make it to the Trials on January 14, 2012. We've also met some of our running heroes like elite athletes Tera Moody (just off foot surgery and her 17th place performance at the World Championships marathon in Daegu, South Korea where she was the first American to cross the finish line), Jennifer Houck, Katie McGregor, Leah Thorvilson, Magdelena Lewy Boulet, and Dot McMahan (among others). These women serve as examples of what having a dream and hard work can achieve. All are contenders to make the U.S. Olympic Team in London in 2012. One of the women who touched us the most was Kristen Fryburg-Zaitz. She shared her story about racing and injuries with us in August before she ran the Rock 'n' Roll Chicago Half Marathon.



Dream Big, Run Fast!
In the meantime, our "Miles & Trials" ladies are still training hard and preparing for another OTQ attempt in Chicago as the qualifying window closes. For anyone who has the dream to do big things and the tenacity to push through even when things don't go as planned, check out this video of some of the women we met at Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota in June while we were there covering Heather's attempt to qualify. You'll see a range of performances and emotions. Dream Big, Run Fast!