The Long Run is a book.
The Long Run (film) . The film is based around the Comrades Marathon , an ultra-marathon race run over a distance of approximately 90 km ( 55.9 mi ) between the capital of the Kwazulu-Natal Province of South Africa , Pietermaritzburg , and the coastal city of Durban . `` The Long Run '' is a song written by Don Henley and Glenn Frey and recorded by the Eagles . It was the second of three singles released from The Long Run album , preceded by `` Heartache Tonight , '' which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1979 , and followed by `` I Ca n't Tell You Why , '' which also reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 , in the spring of 1980 .