Free to Run: the documentary that tells the story of how running became free
There is no shortage of documentaries about running, but few tell a story that directly concerns us. Free to Run, directed by Swiss filmmaker and sports historian Pierre Morath in 2016, is one of them: it tells the story of "free running," which saw the birth of the magazine Spiridon in 1972 under the impetus of Noël Tamini and Yves Jeannotat. A film to (re)discover to understand the spirit that still drives our brand today.
A sport confiscated by an elite
The film opens with a useful reminder: a little over fifty years ago, running was not a leisure activity. It was a stadium sport, governed by rigid federations and reserved for a handful of elite athletes. Women were largely excluded—the women's marathon would not be included in the Olympic Games until 1984. Almost no one ran on roads or in parks for pleasure. Free to Run starts from this observation to recount, over five decades, how this niche sport became one of the most practiced leisure activities in the world.
Figures who changed the history of running
Pierre Morath builds his narrative around a few personalities who have become legendary. Kathrine Switzer, who registered for the 1967 Boston Marathon under a gender-neutral name and was attacked by a race official during the event—a photographed scene that would travel around the world. Fred Lebow, founder of the New York City Marathon, who managed to transform a small race of 127 participants in 1970 into the most popular running event on the planet. Steve Prefontaine, a flamboyant and rebellious long-distance runner who died tragically at 24, becoming an icon of American counterculture.
And then there is Noël Tamini, the founding editor-in-chief of Spiridon magazine, to whom the film gives a real place—rare for a predominantly American documentary. It is an understatement to say that this chapter resonates with us in particular: seeing the Spiridon movement recognized as one of the global epicenters of this quiet revolution, alongside the American pioneers, confirms what our archives have been saying for a while: free running, without bibs or finish times to defend, is not a recent invention of urban run clubs. It has a half-century of history, and a good part of it was written in French.
What the film says about running, at its core
Beyond its historical reconstruction, Free to Run asks a question that remains current: what makes people run once they step outside the framework of competition? The film clearly shows that the democratization of running in the 1970s and 80s was never just about performance. It was primarily a demand for freedom—the freedom to run where you want, when you want, without permission from a federation, without a bib, without justification. An idea that took time to take hold, and that remains surprisingly fresh today, at a time when a new generation is rediscovering the joy of running together, far from performance-tracking apps and Strava rankings.
Where to watch Free to Run
The film is unfortunately not available for free streaming, but it remains easy to find for rent or purchase via VOD, notably on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, YouTube Premium, Arte Boutique, and Orange VOD. Pierre Morath also created a beautiful illustrated book (now unfortunately out of print) as a natural extension of the documentary, which also devotes several chapters to the history of the Spiridon movement.
To go further
If this dive into the history of free running has made you want to dig deeper into the subject, our selection of running and trail books brings together several accounts that tell this same story, each in their own way—from the Tarahumara to the pioneers of women's running.
Franck Tuil - Author - Running culture specialist