The new documentary, 26.2 to Life, continued to gain exposure with theater screenings in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York, Milwaukee, Seattle and Boston and a nationwide virtual premiere from late September to early October.
Sponsored by HOKA, 26.2 to Life explores the vigorous lifestyles of the incarcerated men of San Quentin State Prison’s 1000 Mile Club, which trains for 105 laborious laps around the prison’s yard. The touchingly honest film has received various awards, such as the Audience Award for Best Feature at the San Francisco Documentary Film Festival in 2023, the Audience Choice Award at the Santa Barbara Festival and the Reel Women Direct Award at the Cleveland International Film Festival.
Despite prisons being deemed as “correctional facilities”, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reports that over 65 percent of those released from California’s prison system return in 3 years. Combating that statistic, the 26.2 mile marathon offers members of the 1000 Mile Club a strong sense of dignity and allows them an opportunity to be defined by more than their crimes.
“Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done,” Bryan Stevenson, Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative, said opening the film. “We can’t put crimes in jails and prisons; we can only put people in jails and prisons.”
San Quentin’s volunteer coaches, Franklin Ruona and Jim Maloney have strived to create an environment where the runners feel integrated with “outside” society. The coaches do not question the men on their previous crimes and personal history, but instead concentrate on a successful future.
Members of the 1000 Mile Club, such as Rahsaan “New York” Thomas, find peace in the yard—one of the rare spaces where prison uniforms are not required to be worn. “I’m supposed to be miserable. I’m supposed to give up. [But I] strive to stay in shape to have a better quality of life on the other side,” Thomas said. “I want to have a positive contribution to society.”
Leading the film, Markelle “Markelle the Gazelle ” Taylor, was a former inmate of San Quentin State Prison as of 2019 who is known as the fastest runner in the 1000 Mile Club. Following the documentary screening, Taylor joined filmmaker Christine Yoo and moderator/investigative journalist Sarah Shourd for an onstage conversation regarding the film.
“[The program] helped with being totally free in my mind and heart before being released,” Taylor said. “It put everything in this proper perspective for me.”
Taylor qualified for the Boston Marathon in 2019 while on parole, where he was able to proudly represent a race number rather than a prison number. Last spring, Taylor ran the Boston Marathon again, where he placed in the top 5% of runners by finishing in 2 hours and 52 minutes.
Redwood’s Student Led Anti-Racist Movement (SLAM) advisor David Minhondo has taken 3 different classes to San Quentin on field trips.
“If you treat a person like an animal [or] if you treat a person like they’re some sort of subhuman, that has negative consequences,” Minhondo said. “Offering these sorts of opportunities of self betterment to push yourself to run a marathon…that’s really what model prisons are about. How can we get you to see and tap into your own potential?”
