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Filmmaking teammate sheds light on Armstrong’s tough season in “Pride is Forever"

Published by
DyeStat.com   Sep 23rd 2012, 1:48am
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Pride is Forever website | Pride is Forever trailer
Interview with filmmaker Phil Snyder

By Doug Binder

The idea for making a documentary made sense. Phil Snyder, a senior at Kamiakin High School in Kennewick, Wash., wanted to make one.

And in Anthony Armstrong he felt he had the perfect subject.

Armstrong was a dynamic figure in Washington cross country in 2011. He broke the course record at the state meet and it seemed like he might be poised for an all-time-great sort of a track season.

So Snyder approached. Armstrong said yes. And the seeds of “Pride Is Forever” were sown.

Snyder was a one-man film crew, storyteller and editor, and the result is a stark look at life for an elite high school athlete when things aren’t going so well.

Armstrong was sick through much of his senior track season. There was a cough that wouldn’t go away. There was a nose that wouldn’t stop running. And lungs that never seemed to inflate the way they had in the fall.

And yet, “Pride Is Forever” manages find the triumph of a spirit that refuses to give up.

It took courage for Armstrong to walk into the Brooks PR meet tailed by a guy holding a camera. It took humility to know that he was being filmed, while seated on the ground with his head in his hands after a disappointing DNF at Arcadia.

But the end result, although it doesn’t capture a state record or a championship performance, reveals the intimate truth about what it’s like to try.

“Honestly, when I watched (the premier), it was sad,” Armstrong said. “It was a good movie, but knowing what I had to go through was the sad part.”

When it started to go wrong for Armstrong, he could have told Snyder “not today.” Or more bluntly, “Buzz off!”

But he didn’t. Armstrong said there were times when Snyder’s hard work motivated him to keep slugging away at goals that grew less realistic with each passing week.

“Especially at Arcadia, that didn’t end well at all,” Armstrong said. “Mentally, I broke down and wanted to be alone. And Phil popped in there with the camera. He put in the time and effort, and I just had to do my part to make his project work.”

The season concluded at the Washington state meet and Armstrong was unable to repeat his 2011 titles. He was fifth in the 1,600 and 3,200.

When it was over, Snyder set aside his footage and rested for a couple of weeks. Then he went to work piecing it all together into a cohesive story. Armstrong and others in his support group believed that if he was healthy he might have run sub-8:40 for two miles.

Instead, the story of the season became one of managing expectations while striving to get healthy and keep taking another shot.

Armstrong said he believes the effort was worth it.

“I wanted to inspire other high school kids to go after it,” he said. “But this (story) shows that anything can happen. You never see me giving up. I’m going out and pushing. That’s what Phil and I hoped to show people, to chase their dreams and go for it, even if they’re sick or injured.”

Armstrong is finishing a required credit that he needs before he can enroll at Oklahoma State in January. Snyder is going to the University of Washington with the idea that more film-making could be in his future.

(Snyder was a member of the track team, but found he was more talented holding a camera).

There are moments in “Pride Is Forever” where Armstrong is self-conscious about being on camera. At different times he’s goofy, other times he’s focused and resolute. There are poignant moments when he’s in pain and trying to shield himself from Snyder’s lens.

But what the film captures is real. Armstrong was dealing with Whooping Cough late last winter and probably never completely shook it. He had a sinus infection at Arcadia and it’s probably debatable whether he should have even made that trip.

And yet, it’s in the hotel room in California, or at the horse racing track near Arcadia High School, that we get an all-access pass to what that experience looks like and feels like.

Early on, there were moments when Armstrong worried that Snyder’s presence was going to cause other runners to snicker at him. Maybe they would think he was being cocky.

“Walking around at meets, going to get food, I knew people would stare at what was going on and start talking (about it),” Armstrong said. “I thought they might be saying ‘Look at this kid. Who is he that they’re making a movie about him?’”

As it turned out, this wouldn’t have been possible if the primary subject had a cocky attitude.

“I kind of had to stay very humble about it,” Armstrong said. “There were times it was awkward. I’m not going to lie. I don’t like attention that often and (Phil) gave me attention.”

Especially as the results didn’t live up to expectations (though he did run a 4:10.61 PR in the 1,600), it took even more humility.

Armstrong had virtually no say in the content of “Pride Is Forever.” One of the only rules he set was that he didn’t want to be filmed while he was eating.

Everything else about the storytelling and the details that were included in the film came from Snyder.

“There is a scene in the car, after Arcadia, where I didn’t even know he was filming,” Armstrong said. “I was just saying what was on my mind and I didn’t know it would be in the video.”

Moments like that are the gems in this story and are as real as it gets.

Armstrong said he has watched the movie twice, once at the premier in Kennewick and once on his own. He isn’t eager to see it over and over.

But the movie has a broader message and appeal. Even when the physical piece isn’t working, and there’s not much that can be done about it, the effort remains. The desire, and the pride, continue.

“I definitely thank (Snyder) for doing it,” Armstrong said.

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