Stages 2&3 – “No points for smarts, but lots for heart”

That was a quote from Mark B, a (assumingly) friend of Justin, one of the competitors of the EndurRun, posted on the page with the runner’s bios. I had to post it because I think it sums up the ENDURrun perfectly.

Yesterday, was the one of the shorter days, a time trial through the North side of Preston, (For those non-locals, or for those from out of town, Preston is part of Cambridge) that had runners going up the Fountain Street Hill and past the Toyota Plant. They then went onto the trails that run along the Speed River, near the Knights of Columbus Hall. Before hitting the turn around, they went under the 401, and over the Speed, both at once. And that’s where they found me!

I though that this would be a good place to get the runners going out and coming back. It was, except for the fact that under the bridge, it was very dark, at least dark in photo terms. In order to remedy this, I set up a flash to remotely fire, on the ground, just at the edge of the bridge/boardwalk. By placing a bit of grass on a specific spot on the boardwalk, I knew just the perfect time to fire off the shot.

Today, was stage 3, the 30km Trail Run, at Bechtal Park in Waterloo. The morning started off as a VERY foggy morning. You would think that this is a good thing, since you see so many great shots of landscapes with tons of fog. NOT a good thing when trying to take pictures of moving people. Two problems, first, the thick fog makes things very dark, especially in a forest. Second, it makes for a very hazy looking picture, almost like it is out of focus.

I once again tried the off-camera flash, but was having some issues, so instead, I put the flash on the camera and started to get some better shots. Since this was a 6 lap race, I moved around a lot. Nobody wants a bunch of pics of them in the exact same spot. Near the end of the race, I was in the field on the stands, shooting down at the runners. Just sitting there, I was sweating. The sun had come out and all the fog was burning off, making the humidity feel like I was in the middle of a rainforest. And people wonder why I don’t run!

After getting most of the runners there, I headed back to the start/finish area and once again, the spread of food was amazing. I have been to a lot of races with Vicki (my wife) and have NEVER seen food a quarter as good as the ENDURrun has. There is everything, from pasta, to sandwich stuff, to tons of fruit and candy. They even have freshly made smoothies!

All my Pics from today and yesterdays stages can be found Here