A film about three generations of women distance runners
2004
40 Minutes
Documentary
Available on DVD
This documentary can perhaps be described best as a labor of love. This production was produced, directed, and edited by Charlotte Lettis Richardson over a five year period as she completed her Certificate in Film Production from the Northwest Film Institute. The package is complete with original music and never before seen footage from over 40 years of women stepping forward on the running scene. Released in 2005, the DVD is under the authority of "Fast Girl Productions" and can be obtained through their official motion picture web site, Run Like A Girl Film.com, where you can also view a fascinating timeline to the history of women’s running.
The main theme examines how running has developed and changed for women over the past 40+ years and it illustrates the movement by featuring three athletes from three different eras. Although their stories are interwoven on screen (with artistic use of archived footage, still images, and superimposed layers of information) here is a brief look at each individual runner:
Doris Brown Heritage: Beginning her running in the late 1950’s was an unusual thing for that time period as women were restricted by the discrimination present in the rules of the day. Girls were not even allowed to use the track facilities much less the need to overcome the obstacles of uniforms, transportation, and just having meets that allowed women to compete were often difficult to find. Although training techniques were not well know, Doris set records on the track, qualified and competed in Olympic competitions, and won several World Cross Country titles over the course of her athletic career. She reflects back years later to the meaning of her athletic accomplishments: "I’m not a valuable person because I ran fast, because I had a world record, but it helped me to have faith in myself so that I could go into other areas of life and put myself out on a scary edge."
Charlotte Lettis Richardson: When Charlotte started competing in the early 1970’s, there was "Resistance at every turn. In races we are often laughed at by spectators on the sidelines. Often there is no recognition at the end of the race that we had even finished." In 1972 there was "great hope" when Title IX was passed by congress, yet the affects of this legislation would not be seen until 1975. From a grass roots movement grew a changing structure that acknowledged and promoted women’s only events and opportunities that had never been realized before. Charlotte acknowledges that "In some ways I think sports teaches people how to do hard things. Probably the losing was the place where I learned the most about myself. In the end the running was merely just a mirror to the rest of my life. A way of simplifying and finding out what was already there."
Camille Connelly: Growing up in the 80’s, Camille saw women training and competing in a variety of venues. She even participated in local road races as a child with her family. Athletics and running were a way to have fun, form relationships with others, and be a part of a group. Now as a high school senior, she wants to train hard, compete to the fullest, and progress into the collegiate system on an athletic scholarship. She points out: "I want to take every opportunity and make the best of it. When I cross the finish line I want to be on the point of collapse. As a women, I believe that women should be in sports. I believe that I belong here."
I would expect this film to be routinely shown in high school and college level classroom settings in courses such as Women’s Studies and Contemporary Issues in Sports. With a running time of 40 minutes, it is a good length for a classroom introduction and discussion to follow. Yet my hope is that this documentary will be introduced far beyond institutional settings and will be widely seen by all people, men and women, athletic or not. People benefit in numerous ways, both internal and external, from various aspects of running, and taking the time to see this film will allow further growth in our individual journeys. As Charlotte states: "Most important, I learned that there is always another race or another chance to get things right. If you don’t get it right the first time you can always try again."
Postscript: Doris Brown Heritage was inducted into the Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1990, and the Distance Running Hall of Fame in 2002. Carlotte Richardson continues in her coaching, filmmaking, and her responsibilities as a mother. Camille Connelly continues to compete in both cross country and track events at the University of Washington in Seattle. This film was one of the featured shows at the "Running Film Festival" held in Eugene, Oregon during the 2008 Olympic Track & Field Trails.
Running Movies: Can you describe the timeline that you took in the production of Run Like A Girl?
Charlotte Richardson: "Run Like A Girl" took me 4 years and 8 months to make. I started the film as a final project for a Certificate in film at the NWFC and it grew from there. Projects are normally 7-15 minutes long, but I felt my film’s subject needed a much longer film. I proposed doing the film on digital video versus the normal 16mm film and editing it on the computer. This enabled me to produce a longer film for a lot less money. Even though film tends to be "prettier" to look at, I felt the digital video was a good choice given the cost. My initial concept was to look at the experiences I had had during the early 70’s when women were fighting to run longer distances. I knew from my own experience that women had not been able to run further than 400 meters in the Olympics until 1960, and then only 800 meters at that point. I began to look for a women who had run in the 50’s and 60’s, and realized that Doris Heritage, a two time Olympian (’68 and ’72) lived right up in Seattle. Doris and I had run against each other at the beginning of my running career and towards the end of hers. She had always been a hero of mine, and we knew each other slightly. Because of the time period she had competed in, the late 50’s through the mid seventies, she had never really gotten the recognition she deserved. Among the running crowd, we all knew of her incredible accomplishments, but unlike a Mary Decker Slaney, or a Joan Benoit Samuelson or the young stars of today, Doris is unknown with the average public. She had won the National Cross Country Championships eleven times and the World Championships five times! She seemed to be the perfect choice for my documentary. From there I developed a time line and budget, and began to do my interviews. I started with Doris first, and actually did close to 10 hours of interviews with her. I also filmed several of her cross country meets with her team at Seattle Pacific University. From there I chose a state caliber high school girl cross country runner, also from Washington State and interviewed her. I spent that fall of 2000 following her around at cross country meets and into the State Championship. At that point I began to transcribe the interviews. This took me a long time, and at many points I questioned why I was spending so much time transcribing...but it definitely paid off. After getting all the words down in print I set up a large table and began to try to put what I thought were the important ideas and moments together. I had printed out the transcriptions and cut them in to strips. I then began to arrange them on the big table. As I did this the film began to take shape. I would then paste them into a rough script and work from that. Finally after about a dozen or so revisions, I was ready to do a rough assembly of the film interviews. The rough assembly was basically all the talking heads from the interviews, but what a thrill to finally feel like a had a "film". From there I began to work on the images. I didn’t want the film to be "literal", but more to give you a sense of what it was like to be a runner during the different periods of time in which the women ran. Probably the best advice I was given was from Enie Vaisburd, one of my advisers. I was struggling with trying to find images to go with the story. I was being too literal and not thinking outside of a traditional linear story. Enie said to "play" with the images. It was so freeing to take images, slow them down, overlay them, combine them and "make" the images I needed. It was a real turning point for me. I worked not from start to finish, but in sections...moving through the film with what I had, and continuing to look for what I needed. I continued to work on editing in images, and also to continue to edit the voices. The film was constantly changing. Then in the summer of 2002 I began to close in on the final assembly. It was then that I started to look for music.
RM: You were an outstanding runner, and now you coach. What influences has your own athletics played on your filmmaking career?
CR: First and foremost I have always felt that running had changed my life for the better, and that without running my life would have been very different. It gave me a purpose and taught me to focus and to set goals. Running is a passion of mine. Because of serious injuries, I have not run competitively for close to 12 years. I have always coached, but after not being able to run, I transferred my passion for running into a passion for coaching. I love it! I also feel that the commitment and discipline it takes to be a national caliber athlete is similar to what it takes to be good at anything. I applied that commitment and discipline to film making and it really helped. Often in the film making process there are times when the problems and difficulties of making a film become almost overwhelming. From my experiences as a runner, I knew that you had to work hard, keep your goals in mind, and that you sometimes failed before you succeeded. I saw others becoming overwhelmed and not finishing their films and I was determined to keep going. That doesn’t mean I didn’t have those low moments. I did, but somehow I would "catch my breath" and start up again. It is very much like running a difficult race.
RM: Were there challenges involved with obtaining footage that dated back to the 1960’s and 70’s?
CR: Great challenges. I found early on that women runners were a very low priority when it came to moving images. On top of that, women distance runners were of no interest, even in the Olympics. I called many different organizations, the USATF (once the AAU), the United States Olympic Committee, and even the International Olympic Committee and no one seemed to have any moving images of Doris. Even when Doris was inducted into the Track and Field Hall of Fame, the committee called me to see if I had anything they could use in a small tribute film to her. It was truly amazing! So I had to find images of Doris in home collections, and I also had to use still images with movement behind them to get a sense of Doris running. It was very hard.
RM: What unique considerations did you keep in mind when you put yourself in your own movie?
CR: It was hard to see myself as a "character" in the film. I think we all want to project a positive image of who we are, and it was hard for me to talk about the sad aspects of my running career. It was also difficult to see me on the screen in such contrast to my younger self. I was afraid at times that I wasn’y being as objective with myself as I was with the other two women. I could change what was said, and manipulate my images and words. I guess in the end I settled for being part character and part narrator.
RM: What method did you take in selecting the high school runner featured in your film?
CR: Camille’s coach had been at a running camp I was at and she recommended Camille. I felt she was a good choice because she too was up in the Seattle area. She was also a state caliber athlete and I could follow her season around by driving to her meets! Because our budget was non existent, I was happy to have both Doris and Camille close by. Camille was also passionate about her running and reminded me of a young Doris.
RM: Your premiere was a special night with most of the people who were featured showing up to watch your film. What did you take away from that opening event?
CR: The premiere of the film was at The Guild Theater in Portland. The place was packed and I was so excited to have so many people interested in my film as well as supporting my efforts. When it has taken almost 5 years to finish a project there are so many emotions. Relief, pride, nervousness, and excitement. The showing was everything I had hoped it would be. People really seemed to love the film and that was the most wonderful reward of all. Before the showing I couldn’t get my heart to stop racing, and I felt as though I was about to run a race! But once the film started to play I relaxed and really enjoyed the experience of seeing the film on a big screen. It looked great!
RM: Can you describe your plans for future showings and what plans do you have to distribute your documentary?
CR: I have set up a website for the film www.runlikeagirlfilm.com and I am hoping to get "Run Like A Girl" into some festivals. I hope from there to offer the film to schools, clubs, and track and road races to show. I think it is a film that needs to be seen, as well as enjoyed. It is a celebration of where we as women runners have come and where we are. I think it is also a film that can be enjoyed by men too as it really talks about running in an authentic way...the passion, the commitment, and the life lessons. I hope many people see it also to get to know about Doris Heritage, probably the very greatest middle and distance runner the United States has ever produced!
RM: Thanks for your time, Charlotte, is there other items you would like to share with the readers at RunningMovies.com?
CR: I would also like to say I hope to make another film soon. I feel there is so much more to say about women runners and so much history and inspiration to be filmed. I have just begun!
2004
RM: You were an outstanding runner, and now you coach. What influences has your own athletics played on your filmmaking career?