Here's to You, Fat Boy

This may not be a revelatory admission, but I'm not afraid to announce without reservation and without shame that I am a Simon Pegg fan.

"Shawn of the Dead" is a horror comedy classic, and "Hot Fuzz" is a heck of a lot of fun. I haven't yet sought out his latest, "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People," but considering that I'm mere days away from running my first marathon, it was about time I checked out "Run, Fat Boy, Run."

The movie itself is mediocre and Pegg is easily the best thing in it. But it also has enough running references to keep pavement pounders delighted — from the opening scene, with Pegg as a women's clothing store security guard chasing down a bra thief, to the climactic London Marathon, in which Pegg faces, quite literally, "the wall."

I've never seen Hank Azaria with his shirt off, and let me tell you, it was quite intimidating. Who knew Moe on "The Simpsons" was ripped?

So it's reassuring to see Pegg (the movie's title character) struggle with his crash training — only three weeks' worth!!! — and prance around awkwardly in tight shorts that seem more suited to a swimming meet.

While lamenting to a friend how Azaria has stolen his woman, Pegg adds, "And he runs marathons."

"Why?" the friend asks.

"Exactly."

But somehow, he makes it to the starting line after learning a secret technique: "You put one leg in front of the other over and over again really fast."

Lots of good music in the movie, too, and my favorite scene was a montage synced to the tune of "Keep on Running" by the Spencer Davis Group, which has to be one of the coolest songs about running that's not really about running.

I won't give away the ending, other than to say that Pegg's marathon "PR" is terrible, yet somehow uplifting. At one point during the race, when he can barely go any further, he asks his friend how long until the finish. The response: "It's a little, tiny nine miles." Not encouraging.

That very likely will be me this Sunday at the NYC Marathon. I don't feel much more prepared than he does. But hopefully I won't have to bash through an imaginary brick wall.