If you’re in the Greater Toronto Area on June 22, be sure to mark your calendar: a new short film about Mississauga, Ont.’s Derm Holwell, 71, who has participated in the Boston Marathon 36 consecutive times, will debut at Oakville, Ont.’s Oakville Festivals of Film and Art in its Canadian Visions and Voices-Short Films category.
70-year-old Canadian to run his 35th straight Boston Marathon
DERM: The Long Run, created by Ontario-based film student and runner Alex Kollmann, showcases Holwell, a familiar face among GTA runners. In the film, he shares insights from his extensive running career and his numerous trips to Boston. One year was especially challenging for him as he had been treated for prostate cancer and was uncertain if he would make it back. In 2014 (the year after the tragic Boston Marathon bombings that claimed five lives), there was a subdued yet powerful outpouring of emotion along the course. Holwell hopes to keep returning to Boston every year as long as he can continue qualifying.
Derm Holwell. Photo: Alex Kollmann
“We made this short documentary for a class assignment during my third-year first semester,” Kollmann told Canadian Running. “I chose Derm because not only is he my marathon coach but I knew right away that he’d be an ideal subject.”
Kollmann is studying film and television (BFTV) at Sheridan College in Oakville and is part of the Nomads running club-just like Holwell has been with his family and many long-time friends for years.
In the May/June 2019 print issue of Canadian Running, Holwell explained how it took him four years of visiting Boston before figuring out how best to tackle its challenging course that starts with a long downhill stretch. (He always drives down with family members.)
The Road to Boston 2020
<p“Travelling alongside Derm to Boston these last three years has shown me just how much hearing his story resonates with others-runners and non-runners alike,” Kollmann said. “Just like the Boston Marathon logo, Derm is a unicorn-a unique character you’ll never forget.”
“We spent three months working on this documentary, including two days of shooting in mid-October to capture everything we needed about Derm’s unique journey. The toughest part was trimming our 90-minute interview with Derm down to six and a half minutes so it fit within our assignment’s requirements.”
DERM: The Long Run was directed by Alex Kollmann and produced by Lucas Swangard. For details about the festival or to purchase tickets, click here.
