Are you bored of Christmas telly yet? Yeah, me too. Here’s a list of documentaries that I’ve watched this year and that will inspire you to put your trainers on and go outside.

The Fall – Zola Budd Vs Mary Decker (Sky)

The Fall tells the tale of Zola Budd and Mary Deckerand their much-anticipated meet at the 1984 Olympic Games. It’s quite a sad story of how the press pitted the two against each other. Both are interviewed and reunited for the first time at the scene of their race.

Town of Runners (Netflix and Vimeo on demand)

Town of Runners is a documentary about young runners from Bekoji, Ethiopia. We’re familiar with the success stories that come out of Ethiopia so it’s interesting to see the affect this has (good and bad) on young runners trying to succeed in the sport.

Run Forever: The film of Nicky Spinks & The Double Bob Graham (YouTube)

In 2016, Nicky Spinks became the fastest person to run a Double Bob Graham Round. Nicky  marked 10 years post-breast cancer diagnosis by running the 132-mile Lake District route. This film follows her run and includes interviews with Nicky.

Barkley Marathon (Netflix and online)

The Barkley Marathon is not a marathon, in fact nobody really knows exactly how long this secretive race is. It’s roughly 100 miles through rugged terrain and saw only 10 finishers in its first 25 years. More interesting than the runners taking part is the race director and his love of the event.

Fittest on Earth (Netflix and iTunes)

Ooooh, Crossfit. Controversial. Whatever your feelings on this sport/activity (I’m not quite sure what to categorise it as), this documentary is worth a watch. It follows athletes competing in the World Crossfit games. The human body is a wondrous thing.

Finding Traction (Netflix and DVD)

This documentary follows ultra runner Nikki Kimball as she tries to become the fastest person in history to run America’s oldest hiking trail, the 273-mile Long Trail. During the film she talks about the sexism in distance running and how she’d like to change that.

Diana Nyad: Xtreme Dream (CNN/YouTube)

This CNN film follows Diana Nyad on a failed attempts to swim from Cuba to Florida. Nyad goes on to complete the swim on another attempt and you should read her book Find A Way. But I think this film following her as she tries to do something and fails says a lot about picking yourself up and trying again.

Breaking2 (YouTube)

This follows the six months leading up to the attempt to break the two hour men’s marathon barrier and the ‘race’ itself – three elite athletes and a whole lot of money from a well-know shoe brand.