I got "Without Limits" from netflix.com the other day and I'm confused by something. The info on the DVD sleeve says, "...Prefontaine, the Olympic runner who overcame a physical abnormality to become the top American runner...". However, there was no mention of a physical abnormality in the movie. Can anyone shed some light on this? Thanks.
shareHe actually had one leg longer than the other! Its kind of odd for a distance runner to have that. One thing I noticed in the movie that Crudup did as opposed to Leto in "Prefontaine", he walks a little abnormal at some points. Almost like a limp, but not quite. Watch the scene in the Church where he is looking at Mary. Also when he is walking up the hill at the Party towards the end. You can only catch it at certain points, but there is no direct mention of it in the movie. They mention it in "Prefontaine" though.
shareThanks for the response! :)
shareactually they (many people and some website i read) thinks it was just a hip higher or lower than the other, not like, "hey my leg is an inch shorter than that one." but like "hey may alignment must be screwed up." but i could be wrong, just what i heard.
shareThe reason for the higher hip was hundreds or thousands of laps going the same direction on the track. Yes, there were also many X-country miles, but track training in the same direction will leave you with the inside hip higher from the stress.
Chiropractic adjustment would've helped -- I'm not a chiropractor.
aside from that, pre was also a bit short for a distance runner.
shareYeah for the time he was really short, but if you compare it to today. All the Ethiopian's are between like 5'3 and 5'9, and they are the best 5,000 and 10,000 meter runners in the world.
sharegod, i wish i was short. im 6'1 and have a long stride when i run.
share just because youre ethiopian or kenyan or nigerian means youre an amazing distance runner. or best in the world at that.
also, pre's height was no disadvantage. youre not running a tall man's race. youre running youre race. its not like he had to adjust to being short. he was amazing at running the way he felt best.
Yeah i agree KiiWii, I really think that the idea of having a long stride due to your height can only take so far. If you don't have enough left in your tank at the end your not gonna win anything. One thing that I truly love about pre's mindset is that he truly believed he could win every time, and he wanted it more than anyone else. His belief in himself was the most incredible part about him. I think he really embodied the human spirit, and what everybody takes for granted about it.
"Im a god!" Your God?..."Im a god, not The God, at least I don't think."
Nigerian distance runner?
shareIn the book "Pre" it mentioned that he suffered frequently from sciatica (spelling?). Not sure if this can be caused by poor alignment of hips/legs, from different length legs or just from wear and tear but it did impact his running.
share