Big Heroic Run



The hero or heroes run very fast to save someone, fight someone, deliver critical information, or other reasons. Often scored with a Theme Music Power-Up.

See also Bring News Back, Meadow Run, Race For Your Love.

Contrast with Power Walk.

Anime and Manga

 * The three EVA units have to make a run to catch the angel Sahaquiel on its orbital drop.
 * In Sword of the Stranger, Nanashi has to run cross-country to find and save Kotaro.
 * Natsu has to run to catch Lucy before she hits the ground after she falls off a very tall tower.

Film

 * Chariots of Fire: Naturally.
 * The Lord of the Rings: When Boromir is attacked by the Uruk-Hai at Amon Hen, he runs from them and blows the Horn of Gondor, causing Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli to all run toward him.
 * Star Trek: Chekov is the only one who can operate the transporter well enough to save Kirk and Sulu when they fall off Nero's drill, so he runs through the Enterprise, shouting "I can do that!" at the top of his lungs.
 * The end of The Graduate involves a lot of running.
 * This is often the prelude to the climax of Kamen Rider movies, like in Kamen Rider Den-O: Ore, Tanjou! and Final Countdown (5 and 7 Riders, respectively) and Kamen Rider Decade: All Riders vs. Great Shocker (24, since the title said All Riders).
 * In the beginning of Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, all the Super Sentai teams of the past 35 years charge towards the invading Zangyack Empire. There are 182 heroes present in that entire run.
 * Run Lola Run.
 * There was a Sin City one-shot in which Marv successfully runs after escaping Mooks in a car and hops on. A roller-blade variation occurs in Family Values in which Miho skates after a speeding car.
 * In Stardust, Tristan outright sprints all the way to the Wall when he finds out Yvaine will die if she crosses the wall.
 * In Batman the Movie, the caped crusader tries to get rid of a lit bomb, but cannot find a place to discard of it that doesn't endanger someone, causing him to run throughout the city trying to find a safe detonation zone. Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb.
 * In L Change the World, L attempts one when he realizes Maki is gone, but is too late to reach her.
 * The last few minutes of the WWII POW escape movie Von Ryan's Express Has the titular 'von' Ryan (actually a discipline-minded U.S. Army Air Force officer) running along the train tracks after the train he and his fellow prisoners hijacked trundles towards Switzerland and safety. )
 * A particularly awesome example during the climax of Mission Impossible III, when Ethan(Tom Cruise) needs to sprint about 16 blocks to save his wife. No stunts or SFX, just several straight minutes of Cruise flooring it at stunning speeds down busy streets and across rooftops on his own.
 * What is the very first thing Steve Rogers does as the perfect human specimen? Chase down a speeding car, of course. While barefoot.

Literature

 * A Lord of the Rings example: Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli running after the orcs to save Merry and Pippin.
 * The Horse and His Boy has one of these (albeit on horseback) as a major plot thread.

Live Action TV

 * Doctor Who: Many examples. Starting from Three -- but especially Four -- the Doctor does an awful lot of running.
 * The Tenth Doctor runs all the way across the Library and down to the core of the world to save River Song.
 * The Eleventh Doctor tries to run across Upper Leadworth in "Amy's Choice," but the Dream Lord makes him sleep.
 * Battlestar Galactica: Starbuck runs from her Viper to the airlock to stop Apollo killing the Final Four, who have found the way to Earth.
 * Subverted twice in the original Firefly pilot. Simon has just been told by Mal that Kaylee has died (meaning he's failed to save her after he ), and he takes off at a dead run to the infirmary. When he gets there, instead of a dead Kaylee, he finds her alive and giggling at something Book's just said. Simon angrily calls Mal "psychotic". Irony cut to Mal, Zoe, Jayne, and Wash on the bridge, laughing their asses off at the prank and Wash calling Mal "psychotic".
 * In Torchwood there are two chase scenes in the same episode, between the prime witness in an investigation into a strange alien artefact and first Gwen then Owen. Gwen nearly gets him the first time, getting his hoodie and the artefact and Owen corners him after a chase through several gardens. The second chase scene is on youtube.

Video Games

 * Shepard and Co.'s escape from the in the endgame of Mass Effect 2 is EPIC.
 * Also, in the first game, there was the escape from the buried Prothean tower after rescuing Liara T'Soni.
 * Happens in Okami once in awhile, which is always accompanied by this song.
 * In the iPhone app Zombies Run, you - yes, you - have to do this. And we don't mean virtually, either; the app is a cross between a fitness app, a game and a radio play so you have to run in Real Life to further the plot and complete your mission.

Western Animation

 * Pocahontas pulls off one with lots of symbolism.
 * The Venture Brothers has one after Brock and has to get back to the Venture compound before the family
 * Batman does this in the intro to Batman the Brave And The Bold. It must have been pretty heroic because when The Joker took over for an episode, he rode on a pogo stick during those parts.
 * In the Justice League Unlimited season two finale, Wally West's run around the goddamn planet to build up enough momentum to punch through 's armor. Bonus points for doing it multiple times and.
 * For the math geeks: he runs around the planet 9 times (though he only delivers 8 hits) in 42 seconds, averaging at about 4,9 million km/h. That's about 3 million mph for Americans and around 46 times faster than Earth's orbital speed.

Real Life

 * The most famous Big Heroic Run is the original Marathon run. Pheidippides's mission to gain Spartan help for the Battle of Marathon failed, because the Spartans refused to help the Athenians in time. But he managed to get all the way to Sparta and back to Athens in time to warn the Athenians they'd get no help, and to participate in the battle himself. The tale that he fell dead after delivering his message was a later garbling of the story.