Film about rewards and joy of running heads to Yellowknife

A film about trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon tours Canada this fall, with stops across Canada’s North.

Billy Runs Boston? is the first feature from Tony Marra, a Toronto-based actor and filmmaker who directs and stars in the film.

Marra plays the title role of Billy in a film inspired loosely by his own experience of qualifying for the Boston Marathon. Marra ran it in 2019 and had qualified again during the pandemic, when it was cancelled.

“At that point, I started thinking about a film about running,” Marra said.

He qualified for Boston once again after Covid restrictions lifted, and was training for it when he got injured the December prior. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, he wrote a script and decided to go to Boston anyway to capture footage. He continued filming when he got back to Ontario.

The film delves into issues facing the running community, mental health, sibling relationships, and the rewards and joy of running.

“It’s not all about running,” Marra said. Billy wants to run Boston as “kind-of a way to prove to himself and others … his self-worth.”

“I think for a lot of runners, running is therapeutic, and it gives you a clean slate after that run,” Marra said.

Billy is “really stuck at home in a major rut with his other siblings, and that two hours a day allows him to escape and to really be himself and have a healthy relationship with the world or himself.”

Marra has shown the film a few times so far, including a screening in Huntsville with his local training group. Now, he’s gearing up for a second marathon of sorts – showing the film across Canada.  

He’s trying to hit every province and territory and showcase some of the country’s beautiful cinemas along the way.

The tour kicks off this fall and Marra is “super excited” to visit some places he’s never been before, including the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut.

He’s also hoping to connect with running communities in each city. So far, he said he has found the smaller communities tend to be more enthusiastic.  

“That’s really fun, to have that local enthusiasm. The running communities are tighter, they really know each other,” he said.

“In each city, I’ll try to get a run in with some local runners, and I hope to interview them, do some Instagram stories with them, and maybe they’ll show me their favourite 10k loop or something like that.”

Billy Runs Boston? will play at Yellowknife’s Capitol Theatre on Saturday, November 2. Tickets are available online.