Free to Run (2016)

Pierre Morath's history of how running went from an odd pastime to a mass movement over five decades: the fight for women's right to race against conservative federations, the rise of big-city road races and the jogging boom. Kathrine Switzer and Steve Prefontaine are among the figures it brings back. It is the film to watch if you have ever wondered why a marathon start line now holds tens of thousands of people, and it gives the rest of this list its context.