BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC | India’s La Ultra (or “The High”) is an almost 138-mile run through high altitudes — including a peak of 17,700 feet — and extreme weather.
For its founder and race director, Dr. Rajat Chauhan, it is the “cruelest run in the world,” he wrote in Forbes India.
For filmmaker Barry Walton, it was an opportunity.
“I really wanted to move toward making narrative documentary work,” Walton said in a phone interview. “And I thought the making of this was just an interesting, compelling [and] original story about people kind of pioneering against the odds.”
That, he added, “was what kind of drove me to want to dig up the story.”
La Ultra is an “ultramarathon,” which is much longer than a traditional one. For example, the New York Marathon, which will be held this year on Sun., Nov. 1, is 26.219 miles.
A week before the marathon, Walton, who now has two documentaries about ultrarunning under his belt, will present a “Runners High Film Marathon,” to be held on Sat., Oct. 24 at W. 23rd St.’s SVA Theatre.
The evening will feature two shorts — “The Runners” and “The Last Time I Heard True Silence” — and Walton’s “THE HIGH: Making the Toughest Race on Earth.”
Walton’s first foray into the subject was the documentary “Profiling HURT,” which is about the 100-mile H.U.R.T. (Hawaiian Ultra Running Team) endurance run. In 2009, Walton followed ultrarunner Mark Gilligan as he traveled to the Hawaiian Islands for the race.
“For me, I found it unique that humans wanted to run…these larger, extreme kind of races that went beyond the traditional kind of marathon, hundreds of miles,” he said.
Walton, who has worked on shows for Animal Planet and has been a sports producer for the Detroit Pistons, was living in Italy in 2011.
“My career was dwindling. It was a lot more challenging to stay in the field in Italy than I thought it would be, so I decided to start to make my own stuff,” he said.
The same year, he decided to go to India to film La Ultra.
“I actually covered the race live,” he recalled. “I rode backwards on the back of a motorcycle like I was doing the Tour de France, which was probably not the smartest thing to do.”
The Himalaya mountain range, and the fact that the roads are one lane, makes it tricky for cars to pass each other, he explained.
“Literally there will be inches between the vehicles,” he said. “I don’t know if it was the best decision making that I’ve had in my life, but I did get some great footage out of it.”
Walton said he learned a lot about the race, and would build on that for his documentary, “THE HIGH.”
The documentary begins with Chauhan, the founder and race director, and follows three runners: Bill Andrews, Mark Cockbain and Molly Sheridan. Thrown into the mix is New Delhi-based journalist Ben Arnoldy, who was covering the war in Afghanistan for the Christian Science Monitor.
Walton first premiered the documentary in the Detroit area, where he currently lives with his family.
“I kind of wanted to promote this myself — maybe take a new avenue,” he explained. “That was a big confidence builder, and that probably drove me to New York.”
“THE HIGH” also screened at the Trailing Running Film Festival in Seattle in September, where it was one of the films in the running for best feature, Walton said.
He decided to organize the Manhattan screening event at Chelsea’s SVA Theatre because, he said, it’s respected and, “It’s a great venue. They’re extremely welcoming.”
Walton said he tried to time the event late enough so that people could go to dinner and then come to the theater afterwards. But for those that are still hungry, the Gourmet Brooklyn Popcorn truck will be on hand to offer six flavors of popcorn, Walton said.
First up for the evening is the 11-minute “The Runners,” which was directed by Ivo Gormley and Matan Rochlitz. The duo asked people intimate questions while they were running in a London park, said Walton, and many answered.
“ ‘The Runners’ is a great little film that I love,” he said.
Next up will be Tim O’Donnell’s “The Last Time I Heard True Silence,” which runs 22 minutes. After returning from Iraq, a US veteran has some hearing loss because of an explosion, and has an ongoing ringing in his ears. When he runs in races, the ringing tends to go away, Walton explained.
Then, “THE HIGH” will screen and there will be a Q&A with Chauhan.
“I genuinely want this to be a fun experience for people to go to,” Walton said. “It would be a fun thing that the marathoners that are in town could enjoy.”
The Runners High Film Marathon is on Sat., Oct. 24 at the SVA Theatre (333 W. 23rd St. btw. Eighth & Ninth Aves). Doors open at 8 p.m. and screenings begin at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $13.50 online or $15 at the door ($12 for students and marathoners). Purchase tickets at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/3-award-winning-running-films-in-nyc-sva-theatre-on-oct-24th-tickets-18341057597?aff=efbevent. Also visit facebook.com/events/1484248771885173/.
