I've been meaning to go through the photos I shot of Kristin at this half marathon she ran last month, up in northern Washington. It was a pretty cold day with periodic snow, a slight breeze, and temps in the upper 20's. I drove around the course taking photos where I could, but I spent so much time dialing in the exposure that I forgot to compensate for the speed of the runners and, unfortunately, a lot of the shots were a bit blurry. Some of the shots I took of random runners came out really cool, but for the most part I'm not impressed. Then again, I'm my toughest critic when it comes to photography. And that's the way it has to be.
As for the race, it was the first time Kristin broke the 2-hour mark in a half-marathon and we were both excited -- her for the fact that she's getting faster, and me because it validates my coaching ability. Nevertheless, I must say that it was really, really weird to be a spectator at a road race. Part of me was so glad to have finally put running behind me and moved on to other things, but there was also a big part of me that wanted to lace em up one more time and give it a go. Instead, I helped pick up countless empty Dixie cups at the aid station and spent the time cheering for the runners. Even the slow ones (but not the walkers, screw them). After all, I was the one getting cheered in hundreds of races, might as well give back a little right?
Of course, my foray into spectating wasn't without incident. I think I might be the first spectator to openly heckle and challenge a racer. Although I don't really feel like it was my fault. I was sitting on the street taking photos just past the aid station and this guy comes running by with a cup of water and made a gesture like he was going to dump it on me. Or so I thought. I was sure that's what he was pretending to do, and I wasn't too happy. So I heckled him, "You're not that fast you know. I'll put this camera down and catch your ass!" I saw him at the finish line an hour later and he explained that what he wanted to do was dump the water over his head to ham it up for the camera. Ohhhh.... Um, sorry about that whole you're not that fast bit. Gulp. Oh well, no harm no foul. It was kind of funny though.
Anyway, here's a couple of the photos I took that I think came out okay.
Noticed an awesome sunrise as we were driving down our street
and just had to stop for a photo.
Kristin about 8 miles into the race and between snow showers.
Photographic evidence that she broke the 2:00 mark.
Nothing like a finishing sprint on an icy track!
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