If only life was so easy...

Run Fatboy Run (2007)

If only life was so easy to win the girl over after leaving her at the altar high, dry and pregnant. Five years after developing cold feet at the church, Dennis has a second lease on life when his ex-girlfriend allows him to bond with his kid. Just when he thinks of re-establishing his relationship, his girl gets cosy with an American Mr Perfect, wealthy, articulate, good looking and runs marathons!

After that, you know what to expect. An out-of-shape smoker and a boozer whips into shape within three weeks to complete 26.2 miles of gruelling run. If only life was so easy and running marathons were such, well, run in the park!

This comedy, in the typical vein of any British comedy, is a self-depreciating one where a loser, a zero becomes a hero in the end. I do not why, but it keeps reminding me of another British flick, The Full Monty - a father fighting to keep his son with him.

My running buddies would flip if anyone, who is an out-of-shape couch potato, suddenly decides three weeks before a race, decides to run a full marathon! A marathon is no child's game and could be potentially lethal if one does not train properly. At three weeks time before the race, he should be tapering his runs, not starting from scratch. And there is definitely no place for uncertainties. Today, he says he wants to compete; he is not so sure anymore!

No organiser would allow a participant to run from dawn to dusk in the busy city streets. It is not only potentially harmful to the runner but is also disruptive to the traffic. Any Marshall worth his salt would insist that slow-coachers be red-carded and be picked up by the sweeper vehicle. And the protagonist hardly drank any fluids or need nourishment even though he ran all day. The wall that hits a runner, whether seasoned or novice, cannot be just be overcome just with sheer willpower.

Well, it is a romantic comedy for the souls who believe in true love and Santa Claus, not realists and the survivors of the School of Hard Knocks of Life.

Running marathons may not solve problems but may provide a diversion. It may immerse your brain in euphoria-inducing neurotransmitters to numb the pains of everyday life. It may negate the necessity to start tranquillizers, anti-anxiolytic, anti-depressives or antipsychotics but it is definitely not a penance for people to empathise your plight and come your way. This is not akin to kavadi carrying, self-flagellation during Ashura or Pinoy cross-carrying feat at Easter!

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