San Quentin Marathon Film Discussion

“26.2 to Life,” a sensitive and multilayered documentary about incarcerated men at San Quentin State Prison who are marathon runners, begins with a quote from the ancient Chinese Taoist philosopher Lao Tzu. “The journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step,” the wise man is said to have written. Thus the running club at San Quentin is known as the 1000 Miles Club, and for members, it is a distance measured not just in miles but years. Fun fact: Lao Tzu’s life span likely overlapped that of Pheidippides, the Greek courier who, as legend has it, ran the first “marathon” to deliver war news. If that happened, Pheidippides would have had to cover some rough terrain from Marathon to Athens. The terrain at San Quentin might be rougher. Physically, its marathon course is 105 laps through a prison yard with six 90-degree turns, but emotionally, it’s one path on a long road toward redemption. Bay Area director and co-producer Christine Yoo, a volunteer