RatRace Hell Runner (Up North)

This event was to be a long one. I got up at 4am as I had a 3 hour drive ahead to get there on time.

The event is a half marathon with the option of doing two laps to make a full marathon and is set in the Delamere Forest, Cheshire where the terrain is unforgiving, peppered with water features and is extremely rough underfoot.

My location was in the Hills of Hell, having had a good look around I decided on a section which had the runners coming through a shallow stream, over a log and back out up the bank. This proved to be a great spot as I did a test dip with a stick and found the ground went down just enough to cause a problem for them as they stepped over the log, and it didn’t disappoint.

The problem for me was that I had to be on a boggy island which had me almost knee deep in mud for the whole day, but it was absolutely worth it. Reminded me of the old Major Series that I used to really enjoy photographing.

As the runners came towards me many of them saw the opportunity to get a nice posed shot with the woods, logs and water which was great for me as I knew what would happen next. Yep, almost all of them stepped/jumped over the log and down they went, water and bodies everywhere! 

This was such a fun event and I am thrilled to be covering the other Hell Runners later this year so if you see me on course just remember I am in that spot for a reason and tread carefully…

To see more great images from this event head over to our Facebook page…

https://www.facebook.com/reflectivephotograph/

RatRace Survival of the Fittest (Nottingham)

This was an emotional day for me.

This event, 6 years ago, was the first OCR event I photographed and over the years has given me some of my favourite photos. This year was to be the last event and, for the first time at this event, I was photographing the finish line. End of an era...

It wasn’t the best weather with it drizzling all day, but the competitors really seemed to go the extra mile and enjoy themselves.

As the runners came towards the finish they all forgot how tired they were and really gave it their all to make the last photos the best, with star jumps, cartwheels and even blowing kisses to the camera they all gave a little extra, their was even a random RatRace space hopper that found its way over the finish line which gave them endless fun.

It really is a shame that this great event is to finally end but it has given a lot of fun to everyone including the photographers.  Thanks for the memories.

For more images from this great event pop over to our Facebook page…

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Richmond Runfest - London

Saturday.

This was a full weekend running festival. Starting Saturday in the beautiful Kew Gardens with just over 4,500 runners taking part in the first 10k around the gardens.

I had two locations for this event, the first was intended to capture the runners around 1k after the start which is always a challenge as the runners are still all bunched up and it can be very difficult to identify them individually as they run past. With so many runners I still managed to photograph many of them, and plenty gave me a wave as they passed by.

My second location was a short walk away and was as the runners came out of the rose garden area. They were all still in good spirts when they came past with some waving and even jumping for me which made for some great photos for them.

Sunday.

The second day was the full and half marathons along the River Thames through Richmond. Again, this event had around 5,000 runners, my first position was 5k in and I was able to get the Richmond Bridge in the background to give location to the images. Using a wide-angle lens to get dynamic images along with utilising the  zoom to select individual runners and get close up photos of them. At this location I was just off the Heathrow runway and had many planes taking off overhead, so I had to take a couple of photos as this was the second time in two weeks I was at the end of a runway.  Hopefully next time I will be heading towards a plane and some sunshine!

To see more pictures from this event go to our Facebook page..

https://www.facebook.com/reflectivephotograph/

Pedal for Scotland

The event was the day after Man V Mountain which I had also photographed.

This led to a staggering 817 miles covered and me visiting Wales, England and Scotland in one epic weekend. Even covering such a large area of the United Kingdom I still managed to get the best of the weather for both days. Result…

Pedal for Scotland is made up of three different events:

1.      The Classic Challenge Glasgow-to-Edinburgh ride

2.      The Big Belter (a 100-mile sportive)

3.      The 10-mile Wee Jaunt between Linlithgow and Edinburgh. 

For this event I was to cover part of the finish before another photographer took over, then moving on to another location.

My second location was almost at the end of Edinburgh airport runway and as you will see planes made an appearance in many of the images as they taxied the runway and took off which made for some interesting photos. I was able to find a spot that put the new Forth Road Bridge in the background of the photos (although small it is there!) Many of the riders were happy to see me and did different things to catch my attention and be photographed, there was even Woody and Buzz Lightyear on a tandem.

To see more images from this fun event head over to our Facebook page…

https://www.facebook.com/reflectivephotograph/

Wilne 10k

This is a fairly small event which lots of running clubs local to Wilne get involved with. This one I was the only photographer which meant a lot of moving around the event village taking photos of the runners before the event along with some promo shots.

My aim was to cover as much of the course as I could, so I managed to get the runners about 1k from the start to get grouped images of them as they came past. Next, I made my way towards the finish 2k away to get the front runners as they started the next lap. Then finally on to the finish line to get the leaders as they crossed.

Covering all these areas myself enabled me to get a lot of different shots and really build a picture of the event. One of the things I like about running events is capturing the runners in full stride, with both feet off the floor and that determined look on their faces that only a distance runner has.

To see more pictures from this event head over to our Facebook page..

https://www.facebook.com/reflectivephotograph/

Eroica Britannia - Cycling Event

This was the first time I have photographed this event and after checking out the event website (as I always do before an event,) I was really looking forward to capturing this cycling event with a difference.

The event was a pure cycling event - an epic one-day adventure covering some of the most beautiful landscape in The Peak District National Park. This event provided me with an opportunity to capture the details of the riders as well as the true essence of L’Eroica.

Riders create outfits to match the period of the bikes they ride, which for a photographer is a once a year opportunity to capture a cycling event of the past but in the present day.

The weather couldn’t have been better with blue skies and the sun shinning it was set for a great event.

My first of two locations was roadside opposite Chatsworth house so that I could get a really nice backdrop with the church behind them without anything modern in the photos giving a real feel of times gone by.

It was great to see so many riders really embracing this event with old bikes (some of which I am afraid to say I remember from when I was younger). There was all manner of bikes from old 1930’s racers to BMX’s and Choppers and all different makes and models - they all looked fantastic.

My second location was on the Monsal Viaduct on the Monsal Trail just before the riders entered the tunnel. With being in such scenic locations this made the feel of the photos very realistic and you wouldn’t know when they were taken (apart from the gentleman taking a photo with his phone of me photographing him!)

Mudnificent 7

Well what can I say about this one…

This event is fun, fun ,fun. It’s great for everyone involved, nobody takes any part of this seriously, its all about taking part in a fantastic event. I have looked forward to this one all year as I knew what to expect from photographing this event last year.

It did not disappoint!!

I was covering the “Electric Shock Therapy”, now everyone that does OCR knows all to well the Tough Mudder Electroshock Obstacle. This however was a play on that very obstacle complete with wire rope and power cables to a box. This one had NO power at all, which meant that when the competitors came up to it they thought that they would get an electric shock (Mind Games in play here).

I had people trying to avoid the wires, crawl under them and everything in between. I was completely aware of there being no power so when asked I didn’t say it wasn’t powered. I did have a lot of fun with them as when they had completely avoided the wire and got to me I whispered that it wasn’t powered at all, the look on their faces was priceless, but you have to play along with the game. This obstacle gave some fantastic images, some people didn’t fall for the “No Power” but they played along and had fun in the process.

Lot of the competitors dress up for this event as you will see, various inflatable items were carried around as well. Mudnificent 7 give everyone a small yellow duck with their number on to carry round the event and if they get it back to the finish they get money off next year’s event. This year I saw ducks in places that ducks shouldn’t be, down bras, in socks, down pants and everywhere else imaginable.

As a photographer it can be hard at some events to get involved with the spirit of the competitors, which I love to do, but at this event both the competitors and organisers truly embrace the photographers and welcome us shouting encouragement and really do play for the camera.

Head over to our Facebook page for more picture from this fantastic event.

https://www.facebook.com/reflectivephotograph/