Donn Cabral: Between Spikes

Flotrack's Best of 2013 - User Video of the Year We selected this user video not just because of its aesthetics, but because it has a profound message. We'll take a page out of famed marathoner Juma Ikangaa's book and agree that, "The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare." We'll let the short film's creator James Cole explain. Flotrack caught up with Cole and asked about his his inspiration for the video and why he chose to highlight the less glamorous side of running. Relationship with Donn Cabral Donn and I met in school and were roommates for two years. I started filming Donn my senior year because I was living with him and 3 other runners (Joe Stilin, Brian Leung, and Peter Maag) and was so fascinated by the lifestyle: they all slept in altitude tents, doubled on most days, etc. I visited him in Washington to catch up and we decided to film for one day, so Between Spikes was actually filmed in 24 hours. Inspiration I had filmed Donn running and training before, but I wanted to make a video about the less glamorous side of distance running. I wanted to capture some of the tension off the track that I had witnessed my senior year. The beauty of running fast can be ugly. Runners can become enslaved and obsessive with their goals and similarly the "ugly" of being alone and making life sacrifices can be beautiful. I wanted to focus on the second part more than the first. Though Donn was alone and not racing or doing anything particularly noteworthy as far as your average fan was concerned, it's actually a really important part of the process and of his personal growth. Often, the time between spikes is when a runner betters him or herself physically and mentally in the most meaningful ways. Equipment I shoot with a 5d Mark II (Canon) and a variety of lenses. For this I used mostly a 50mm 1.4 a wide angle lens and a macro lens. I use Final Cut Pro X.