Running for Jim

Running for Jim is a film about grit, determination, and the powerful will to "finish".

Running for Jim tells the inspiring story of record-breaking high school running coach Jim Tracy, his battle with Lou Gehrig's disease, and his 2010 championship team that brought his story to international attention.

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Synopsis

A Coach. His team. Their fight to finish.

Running for Jim is a portrayal of grit, determination, and the powerful will to "finish".

The film chronicles the story of Jim Tracy, the deeply dedicated, brutally honest and tough-love coach of the San Francisco University High School cross-country team. Under Jim's tutelage, University High School girls' cross-country holds a record number nine state championships, making Jim the most decorated high school cross-country coach in California history. In June 2010, Jim Tracy was diagnosed with fatal Lou Gehrig's disease.

It is 16-year-old Holland Reynolds and her cross-country teammates who bring Jim's story to international attention. On November 27, 2010 at the California State Division 5 Cross-Country Championship race, Holland 'hits the wall' and collapses several meters from the finish line. With a record-breaking state championship at stake, Holland, suffering from dehydration and hypothermia, literally crawls across the finish line, securing the record-breaking championship for her team and ailing coach.

In June of 2010, Tracy was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease. Running for Jim explores how Tracy, once a competitive runner, now faces the greatest challenge of his life. The film captures Tracy's courageous battle with ALS and how he continues to inspire his athletes despite his grim diagnosis and deteriorating health. Poignantly, the coping tools and strength Tracy has instilled in his athletes might be the most important lesson of all, as his runners attempt to process and understand the physical decline of their favorite coach.

For the previous 17 years, despite being at times penniless and homeless, Jim has committed his time and energy to training teens to run. Now, as Jim faces the challenge of his life battling ALS, he poignantly personifies the strength and fortitude he unequivocally demands of his athletes.

Robin Hauser, Dan & Judy Noyes, and Lou Wirth join forces to produce this gripping film about the endurance of the human condition and the tenacity of the human spirit.