MADISON, Wis. -- A documentary titled "Feat: 63 Marathons in 63 Days" certainly grabs one's attention with its directness, but the epic amount of running is only part of the story.

Upon learning of such a superhuman feat, one begins figuring the mileage, trying to imagine what this exercise in extreme endurance would look like, would feel like. And, of course, it raises the question: What would drive someone to attempt this?

In "Feat," filmmakers Brad and Deborah Carr, who are University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh alumni, document the amazing cross-country journey of Tim Borland, an endurance runner and personal trainer from Los Gatos, Calif.

After a friend's daughter was diagnosed with the rare, terminal children's disease Ataxia-Telangiectasia, Borland was inspired to run 63 marathons in 63 consecutive days to raise awareness and research funds for A-T.

Running, whether it be 5Ks or marathons, to raise awareness and money in the fight against diseases is nothing new, but given the devastating nature of A-T and its low profile, Borland upped the ante in a big way to bring the stories of families touched by A-T to light.

A-T is a progressive, degenerative genetic disease that combines the symptoms of muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis and immune deficiencies. Children with A-T appear healthy at birth but progressively begin to lose muscle control. Most children are in wheelchairs by the time they're 10, and they usually die in their teens or early 20s.

Experts estimate the frequency of A-T as 1 in 40,000 births, and there are only about 500 identified cases. There is no cure and no treatment to prolong a patient's life.

In the film, doctors explain that misdiagnosis is a big issue for children with A-T and that it often takes years for a child with A-T to be correctly diagnosed, in part due to a lack of awareness about the disease.

Parents Mark and Laura Lesperance, of Neenah, Wis., explain the frustrating process of being bounced from specialist to specialist before finally getting a diagnosis of A-T for their son, Max. When they noticed that Max started wobbling a bit when walking, doctors looked for inner-ear issues and eventually examined his hip joints to determine if that was the cause for his balance issues.

Max was finally diagnosed with A-T at age 3, and at the time, they were told his 3-month-old brother Jake, would have a one-in-four chance of having A-T. Jake tested positive at 3 months old, becoming the youngest known diagnosed case of A-T.

"I carried a lot of things around at that time. I, personally, had even wished Jake had (A-T) so Max didn't have to go through it alone. That was probably my worst point, that I wished that on him," Mark Lesperance says in the film, as his eyes well-up.

It's a heartbreaking scene, and it's just one window into the lives of families dealing with A-T that the documentary shows. Borland's marathon challenge might be what gets people to take notice, but the most compelling aspect of "Feat" is the personal stories of children struggling daily with A-T. And, in the end, that was Borland's hope, that his own amazing story would be overshadowed by the stories of children with A-T.

While the film shows the pain caused by A-T, the ever-optimistic Borland helps temper the sadness as he tackles each marathon with a seemingly perpetual smile on his face.

Borland started his journey on Sept. 3, 2007 at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., running his first 26.2-mile marathon on the tour. The filmmakers tag along as Borland, his wife, two young children and his best friend pack into an RV and embark on the two-month trek, finishing at the New York City Marathon on Nov. 4, 2007.

The film also works as a sort of road-trip movie, offering snapshots of communities across the country. Borland faces strong winds in some places, heavy downpours and flooding in others. In one scenic stretch, he runs past farms and silos in Freedom, Wis. In Chicago, he races in the hottest Chicago Marathon on record.

Sometimes Borland runs in official marathons, but on other days he runs a 26.2-mile course alone in a community. Every day while running, he also pushes a jogging stroller, which carries either a child with A-T or a sign with the name of a child with A-T or who has died of the disease.

The filmmakers intersperse eye-opening stories of families dealing with A-T with footage of Borland's marathons, which works well to break up the repetition of the running and moves the story along. They wisely take a broad view of the 63 marathons by highlighting only some races and communities while tracing Borland's overall progress graphically on a map.

In watching the film, other less-obvious challenges of running 63 marathons across the country in 63 days come into focus. Limited recovery time after each marathon is an issue, as at the end of each day the RV must hit the road to make it to the next stop on schedule.

In order to have the energy to keep running, Borland aimed to eat about 7,000 to 8,000 calories each day, but as media interviews cut into his down time, it was increasingly difficult to get the needed amount of sleep and nutrition.

As Borland starts off his running journey, I wondered how long he'd be able to keep up his pace and how his body would hold up. Would he have to crawl over the final finish line at the New York City Marathon? Sure, he's doing OK now, I thought, but how is he going to be feeling by, say, his 40th marathon in 40-straight days?

But then, after running on day 4, Borland's energy level crashes. "I just felt like I was in the depths of despair, the depths of frustration. And I really started wondering if I could do this," he says in the film, and it becomes clear that this insane challenge might somehow be even more difficult than expected.

As he makes his way, people invariably ask Borland how he's able to keep running. He explains that no matter how hard it gets, it's nothing like the battle that children with A-T face each day. He says he can tell himself that he gets a rest after a few more miles, while children with A-T can't get a break from it.

The filmmakers also speak to medical experts and researchers working on a cure for A-T. They offer good insight, and I would've liked to have learned a bit more from the film about the challenges they face in developing treatments for A-T. Also, in the end, the film gives updates on the children profiled, but I was also curious about how much money Borland was able to raise for research.

At a time when audiences are conditioned by a steady stream of "inspirational" movies churned out by Hollywood, a documentary like "Feat" is a powerful reminder of what it feels like to watch a film that truly inspires.

The filmmakers said they are self-distributing the DVD of the film, starting Sept. 3, 2010, the third anniversary of the start of the "A-T CureTour." More information about purchasing the DVD and advance DVD sales can be found at film's website at www.featmovie.com.