Year: 1979
Language: English
Format: 16mm Colour
Runtime: 89 min
Director: Paul Cowan
Executive Producer: Robert Verrall, Jacques Bobet
Writer: Paul Cowan
Cinematographer: Pierre Letarte, Paul Cowan, Tony Westman, Reevan Dolgoy, Georges Dufaux
Editor: Paul Cowan, Steven Kellar, Jeepy Macadam, Rosemarie Shapley
Sound: Garrell Clark, Alain Corneau, Richard Nichol, Richard Besse, Ralph Parker
Narration: Michael Kane, Jacques Fauteux
Production Company: National Film Board of Canada

Going the Distance is the official film of the XI Commonwealth Games held in Edmonton, Alberta in August of 1978. Commissioned for the project on the basis of his previous sports specials, director Paul Cowan shot part of the film himself, while delegating other segments to his five renowned collaborators behind the camera: Reevan Dolgoy, Georges Dufaux, Beverly Shaffer, Pierre Letarte and Tony Westman. (The significant contributions of Dolgoy, Dufaux, Shaffer and Westman earned them Associate Director credits on the film.)

Cowan opted for an intimate approach and focused on eight athletes from four continents (the group included four Canadians: Toronto boxer John Raftery, thirteen-year-old Winnipeg gymnast Monica Goermann, and divers Linda Cuthbert and Janet Nutter), who were selected to illustrate the arduous nature of elite individual effort. They were filmed in their home countries before the Games and in competition in Edmonton. Going the Distance received an Academy Award® nomination for Feature Documentary.