The Runner

Preferring not to think of the gutless bunch of Texas Ranger crackers and jailbirds that disrupted Marcus Stroman's Duke graduation yesterday any longer than I had to, this morning I went looking for something reminiscent of sports the way it used to be in this town and could still be. I happened on this short film, Runner (1962) by the late Don Owen. Celebrated for Nobody Waved Goodbye (1964), Runner was Owen’s first film for the NFB.

The NFB blurb describes the film this way:

This captivating short documentary profiles the young Canadian long-distance runner Bruce Kidd at 19 years old. Kidd eventually went on to win a gold and bronze medal at the 1962 Commonwealth Games, and was a competing member of the 1964 Canadian Olympic team. Directed by Don Owen (Nobody Waved Good-bye, Toronto Jazz), the film is luminously photographed by John Spotton and features poetic commentary composed and spoken by the great Anglo-American poet W.H. Auden. The camera follows Kidd’s sprightly movements as he runs on piers, practice tracks, and finally, in an international race. Oblivious to the clapping crowds and the flash of cameras, he knows full well that in the long run it is the cold stopwatch that tells the truth.

Wow! World class cinematography, a bit of custom poetry by spoken word artist W. H. Auden, and running by Bruce Kidd and a bunch of other Toronto runners from half a century ago. That is amazing. Nice to know that Kidd is still around. He has had a long and interesting career after running—something that those Texas Ranger bandits might ask the bozos that hired them about. We hear Mr. Kidd might be delivering a commencement address somewhere in town this spring.

That feels better. It’s not so hard to wash away the Bush and Gossage slime.