From the crack of time’s starter pistol, few things capture our attention like a great chase. Stripped of all pretenses, a foot chase requires its participants to rely on little more than guile, instinct and a good pair of kicks.

Casino Royale [2006]
James Bond [Daniel Craig] displays the type of blaze-in-the-belly dedication found in elite athletes as he pursues a bomb maker [Sebastien Foucan] through the streets of Madagascar. Fearing neither goon nor gravity, Bond pinballs from one skyscraper-beam to the next like a caffeinated Mr. Magoo. The scene was inspired by Foucan, who invented the sport of free running, where participants locate the most deliberate path to take through a series of obstacles.

The Bourne Ultimatum [2007]
Regardless of sport, one common link among top jocks is their ability to improvise. And there are few better examples of thinking on the run, often quite literally, than AWOL agent Jason Bourne [Matt Damon]. In Ultimatum, he races across Tangiers’ streets, rooftops and living rooms in pursuit of his target. You want more improvisation? He finishes the poor bloke with a book and hand towel.

Raiders of the Lost Ark [1981]
At some point in every athlete’s career, he’s faced with the most basic of all instincts: survival. One of celluloid’s more inspirational sprints to safety occurs in Raiders, where Indiana Jones [Harrison Ford] evades poison darts, bottomless moats and a boulder the size of Neptune.