Race to the big screen
Runner stars in first-person documentary debuting this weekend at the Downs at Santa Fe.
In a year in which fear, hate and uncertainty seem to be the order of the day, one man is here to remind us that all it takes to realize there’s more to life than the emotions that drive us is a little perspective.
For him, that perspective came in an intoxicating 3,700-mile run across the country, covering 11 states from South Carolina to the Golden Gate Bridge in California.
Rickey Gates chronicled the journey in a book (Cross Country )anda first-person documentary Transamericana, a 115-minute film that’s available on YouTube and set to be shown on a big screen Sunday night at Motorama at the Downs Santa Fe.
It’s the final chapter in Sunday’s inaugural 6 Hours of Santa Fe endurance run that begins at noon, ends at 6 and wraps up with the film in which Gates takes us along for his mind-bending run that was inspired by the results of the 2016 presidential election, one that made him realize he didn’t know as much about this country’s people as he thought he did after Donald Trump won the White House.
“I didn’t really know as much about things as I figured and, really, that was one of the inspirations for my journey,” Gates said while sipping a beer on Friday night in downtown Santa Fe.
“It’s OK to have disagreements and not think the same way as others, but it’s OK to have civil conversations about those differences and learn more about ourselves and others.”
Gates, 39, is from Aspen, Colo., but has lived in or traveled to more parts of the world than most people will ever experience. His decision to traverse the continental U.S. began in March 2017
Trail and introduces the audience to a handful of people whom he met along the way.
That includes a pair of curious dogs in Arkansas, a man who brewed him a cup of coffee in the Deep South, a family fishing along a riverbed — and day after agonizing day of jogging in solitude in areas he never expected to see.
“About two-thirds of the trip was entirely unplanned,” Gates said.
He did not cross into New Mexico but stopped for three days at his family’s home in Aspen, reuniting with his mother and girlfriend before heading out for the final 1,200 miles to the Pacific Coast.
That last leg in the documentary shows the audience that shotgunning Dijon mustard is a cure for acid reflux and that running the equivalent of a marathon a day for months on end does funky things to the body, such as burning 4,000 to 6,000 calories a day dissolves fat like it’s some sort of weird science experiment.
“There’s some hair-raising moments in there and there are some love moments in there, as well,” Gates said of his trip, drawing loose comparisons to the 2018 Oscar-winning documentary Free Solo that chronicled Alex Honnold’s amazing free climb of El Capitan from the year before — at approximately, as fate would have it, the same time that Gates’ run was taking place.
“I’m not about to get an Oscar for this or get nominated for one, but I do think that there’s plenty in there for everybody around,” he said.
Perhaps the best part of Transamericana is Gates’ simple approach to seeing the country and learning a thing or two about his life on his terms. He’s not followed by a team of supporters and spends most nights sleeping alone on a paper-thin sleeping pad in remote, out of the way places while exposed to the elements.
He encountered snow on the East Coast, huge rain storms in the Midwest, knee-high snow drifts in Colorado and blazing triple-digit heat in Utah and Nevada. All but a few of those moments are spent alone on remote roads or trails.
Gates will be at the Downs on Sunday to meet anyone wanting to see his film.
The organizer of Sunday’s 6 Hours of Santa Fe, Peter Olson, has gone to great lengths to make sure his all-comers event is a safe, fun event that includes the chance to run a few laps around the old race track with Gates. Olson is limiting runners to groups of nine or 10 and everyone is required to wear masks.
“It took a lot of planning to get this approved by the state and the Governor’s Office but it was worth it,” Olson said. “We have so many dedicated endurance runners, people who are just wanting to get out there and do something that brings people together and does it safely.”
There are no first-aid stations and people need to bring their own supplies, but doing so is worth it if for no other reason than to share the love of running and to get a chance to meet Gates — and tap into the calming energy that is his personality.
His easygoing style is evident throughout the documentary. Narrating it himself with a smooth Mr. Rogers-esque flow, he shares moments of reflection and learning. He also introduces us to Liz, the woman who would become his wife, a woman who got him to move to Santa Fe as she became an artist at Meow Wolf.
“You know, I never really look at running as a sport anymore,” Gates said. “It’s just an extension of who I am, of life.”
His latest project is getting to know Santa Fe.
He mapped every city street and is in the process of running every single one of them — more than 800 miles, by his count.
“It’s not a run across the country but it’s a great way to explore my town,” he said.