Update of ‘Long Distance Runner’ literally jogs in place

Its only 90 minutes long, but by the time "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" ends, its athletic lead is in a sweat, panting.

And no wonder: As Alan Sillitoe's hero, Colin Smith — a young delinquent who finds redemption in running — Sheldon Best spends most of his time jogging in place on the Atlantic Theater's small stage.

The workout is central to Roy Williams' new adaptation of Sillitoe's 1959 short story.

Colin, so memorably played by Tom Courtenay in the 1962 movie, was one of the "angry young men" who revolutionized British theater and film in the late '50s and early '60s.

Since then, circumstances have changed considerably.

Colin isn't a white ­working-class lad from Northern England anymore, but a disaffected black London youth — he broke into a bakery during the riots of 2011.

References to Beyoncé, Quentin Tarantino and Prime Minister David Cameron aside, the general story is the same, alternating between flashbacks and scenes of Colin in motion.

"Running has always been a part of my life," he explains, "especially as I was always running away from the police."

Sentenced to nine months in a center for young offenders, Colin finds solace in running.

A social worker, Stevens (Todd Weeks), encourages him to participate in a local competition meant "to bring people, pupils, together from all walks of life in the borough, the types that wouldn't necessarily meet under any other circumstances."

The show ends with Colin making a surprising decision in the last dash of the race.

His motive is frustratingly confusing. Partly this is the script's fault, but Best — whose muscular upper body belies that of an endurance runner — also doesn't help us understand his character's motives. He plays everything the same, with little variation between Rambunctious Colin, Flirtatious Colin and Enraged Colin.

Fortunately, he gets very strong support from the rest of the cast.

Indeed the best scenes in Leah C. Gardiner's production involve Colin's mum (Zainab Jah); his girlfriend, Kenisha (Jasmine Cephas Jones); and his best friend Jase (Joshua E. Nelson). They have an easy spontaneity and humor — Jones and Nelson are especially good at making the banter sound funnier than it is — and make strong impressions in a relatively short time.

They may be as stuck as Colin, but they still look as if they're on the fast track.

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