The Sheen Center for Thought and Culture
Justice Film Festival Summer Films
presents

Owls Media
SKID ROW MARATHON

By GABRIELE & MARK HAYES
Directed by MARK HAYES

https://www.sheencenter.org/shows/skidrow/all/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUqqKkZE7Kw&live=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7DmRTjqrjU&live=1

Meet L.A. criminal court judge and former prosecutor Craig J. Mitchell. He is intelligent, dedicated to justice, a devoted husband and father, a devout Catholic, and immensely creative. His career involved years of sentencing the guilty to prison, yet he never lost hope for any of them. He felt that each had potential for good, for a new beginning. His optimism led him to create a project. A long-shot sort of project. A project to motivate those paroled to the Midnight Mission down on skid row. His wife was nervous. Five a.m., in the dark, skid row? Judge Mitchell went for it. He was certain that he could do some good. He was beyond correct.

Judge Mitchell started a “running club”. Anyone paroled to the mission could join. Just meet him at the appointed time and “waddle a little way” with him. Bit by bit more people joined, could run longer distances, keep up a faster pace. They loved the sense of community it gave them, the sense of purpose, the sense of self-worth. These runners had been drug addicts, gang members, street drunks, every kind of criminal. Had done years in prison. They had found a purpose, a goal.

The project expanded to include participation in marathons. The judge worked some fundraising magic and took a small group to a race in Ghana. He wanted to expose them to the larger world, to other cultures, to things they had never dreamed of. Their smiles are wonderful. Their amazement is incredible to see.

Some fell back to their old ways, of course, as the Judge knew some would. But it was all about hope. This film is a must-see. It will put a smile on your face and joy in your heart.

-Karen D’Onofrio-