Sunday 26 December 2010

. . a Willen Winter Wonderland . .

Happy Boxing/Stephen's Day!! Hope you enjoyed/survived yesterday? I delayed my journey to my parents in York from the 24th, thought I'd give myself a day off and allow the holiday traffic to clear the M1 for me . .

 

I was told that Christmas Dinner would be on the table at 2pm, so I could get up and leave mid-morning or I could rise early, and stop off at parkrun Milton Keynes en route to Yorkshire . .


 . . of course the lure of parkrun was irresistible . . and so shortly before 9am I found myself in the still snow covered car park beside Willen Lake in MK, with 80 or so others, many of whom were to my mind inadequately dressed for the conditions . . they would be the runners then!!

 

Once they'd gone, the few of us that remained shivered, and watched Nig set up the finish area, and waited . . 


and shivered some more as we watched people in shorts running along the far bank of the frozen Lake, before they rounded the final bend, smiled and waved at Ian taking his first race photographs . .

 
. . and slithered and sprinted and slipped and strode along the last 200 metres to the finish line . .


  . . and mostly hung around for a while, stretching and chatting and enjoying the sunshine whilst waiting to see how friends and relatives had done . .

   . . it turned out that Hazel and Kevin had run around at the back of the pack, collecting the signs along the way . . so that once they'd finished . . 

 
 
. . we could all head off to wherever we were going to spend our Christmas Day . .



 

Tuesday 21 December 2010

Seasons Greetings . .

It is, so we're told, the Season to be Merry and indeed it is . . but boy, the weather we're currently "enjoying" is certainly making it difficult!

I'm bound for York on Christmas Eve, all being well. Didn't make it last year, thanks to the snow and I never dreamt that for 2 English winters in a row I might be unable to make that particular journey on that particular day . .

With good luck and fairer weather then of course I will do . . although the weather forecast isn't predicting fair weather . .

I don't know what it has to say about good luck . .

In the meantime, I'd like to wish those of you who have stumbled upon my blog a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year . . 


Be warm, be safe, and be kind to one another . .

Monday 13 December 2010

. . ice, ice, baby . .

Yesterday morning was my final race of the year, the Andy Reading 10k, over the other side of Bicester in a village called Chesterton . .

As soon as I stepped out of the car I realised it was slippery, there'd been a hard frost earlier, and guessed the race might be in doubt . .

And as the number of runners increased and race time of 10.30 approached the decision was taken to delay the start by half an hour, hoping it would give the sun the chance to get above some of the taller trees and complete the melting process on the icy roads . .


This proved to be a good plan, as the race took place without any obvious slippery incidents, and 443 runners, just 2 less than last year, completed the event . .


I had a great time taking photographs, first at the start, and then soon after the 2k mark after the runners had completed a loop of Chesterton, and finally at about 9k, when the runners crossed the M40 for the final time. Here I decided to lie down and get a slightly different view on the world, which seemed to work well, apart from the stiff neck I had when I stood up once again after being prone for 32 minutes . .


And after the race, instead of dashing home as I often do to start processing the photos, it was nice to spend an hour or so in the Red Cow at Chesterton in the company of some good friends and roast dinners . .

Wednesday 8 December 2010

Weather from the Wardrobe . .

When will it all end . . this horrible weather, I mean. Here in the Home Counties it isn't quite so bad, just bloomin' cold, but I know that for example in Hull and York, it's like some kind of parallel universe . . has the White Witch escaped from the Wardrobe?

So it's good to look ahead to the New Year and hopefully better weather. In January I'm returning to north Bristol and will be taking photos of the Riverbank Rollick on the 16th. It's staged by Thornbury Running Club, is around 9 miles, and is described as multi-terrain. From my own experience in 2008, it's mostly mud, wind and rain. The race heads west from Thornbury as far as you can go, then you run south along the bank of the Severn Estuary for a while, before returning to Thornbury, where just before the end you have an opportunity to clean your shoes whilst running along (which is to say in) a stream. Which is where I'll be, with camera.

Later in the month, on the evening of the 27th, I'll be near Cambridge at the inaugural LodeStar Night Run . . a 10k over three laps, with obstacles. The obstacles are floodlit, hopefully brightly enough for me to take good photos of everyone. Runners don't generally like to stand still and pose mid-race, for obvious reasons, but I'm hoping that by the 3rd lap, if they're not quite stationary, they won't be moving very quickly and that will be my best chance . .

No photos of either of these locations so I'll leave you with an image from this year's edition of one of the races I'm attending in February . . of which I'll write sometime soon . .

Wednesday 1 December 2010

No races to report on . .

 . . from last weekend, nor have I any planned for next – which is probably just as well considering the current weather conditions . .

Here towards the north of Buckinghamshire we seem - at the time of writing – to have got off comparatively lightly with only one light snowfall to speak of, so we just have to contend with the cold – very fortunate compared to others around the country.

Let’s hope I’ve not just tempted fate!!

Returning to races and photographs – I do like the way Anne and Andy at Dirt Running have used my photos on their website to illustrate the recent Dirt Half Challenge – it’s nice to see my photos being put to good use . . 


I’ve been working on the programme of races I will be at in the early part of next year – at the moment in the first 2 months I’m covering 2 brand new events and long-standing event which I covered last year. I’m waiting to hear from a 4th race about whether they’d like me to go along or not and then I’ll blog about them . .

Wednesday 24 November 2010

two bridges . .

Well, that was a dull weekend, meteorlogically speaking, that is . . it was quite the opposite in most other aspects . .

Saturday saw me at the first ever Dirt Half Challenge, a race which apparently wasn't muddy enough according to some competitors!!



I found a nice spot on the Grand Union Canal, by the Three Locks, and took what I hoped would be some lovely photos with the pub and the lockgates behind the runners . . unfortunately it was so gloomy that I struggled to get clear and sharp images of the runners . .




Later on I was further south on the same canal where there was a little more light . .


  . . and this happy runner clearly enjoyed herself . .



On Sunday I was beside the River Brett in Hadleigh, in Suffolk, for their 10 mile road race . .


Not quite such a gloomy day and I was able to gather a nice set of photos of runners - here are the 2 leading ladies battling it out after 8½ miles . .


And of the other things that catch my attention whilst I'm out and about . .


Although the day came to a sudden halt from a photographic point of view when I returned to my car and found it had a very flat tyre, and by the time I'd replaced it and returned to Race HQ, almost everyone had gone home!

Friday 19 November 2010

I'm going to be busy . .

 . . this weekend, with 2 races to cover. One, on Sunday, that I went along to last year, the Hadleigh 10 in Suffolk. I'm not quite sure what made me go all that way to take some photos but it's a nice place, seems to be a well-organised race that the participants enjoy, and the people there are, as they are wherever I go, friendly and welcoming . .


. . but before that, tomorrow is the Very First Ever Dirt Half Challenge . . a Half Marathon that starts and finishes in Leighton Buzzard. The runners spend quite some time on the banks of the Grand Union Canal so in the summer Di and I went to explore but got no further than the Globe where we enjoyed a very pleasant lunch. Obviously the colours will be different tomorrow but I should still be able to find an attractive background for my photos . .


 . . back in Hadleigh, the colours will hopefully still be interesting, as the photo of the start of the race above shows . . and whilst sometimes the scenery isn't quite so inspirational the runners bring their vests of many colours to brighten up the place . . here are first lady Natasha up by Pott's Farm shortly before the 4 mile marker . .


and Syd and Ken enjoying themselves as they pass through Lower Layham in the 9th mile . .


 . . so lots of work to do in the evenings this weekend, trying to present the photos properly . . then a day off somewhere in the Midlands with Di . . before another day off work on Tuesday to finish off the photos . . 

I'm looking forward to it!!

Wednesday 17 November 2010

Bleeding Nipples . .

 . . is the title of a new book, somewhat suprisingly perhaps . . a book which at 9pm on Saturday night didn't have a photo for the front cover . . but at sometime yesterday was put on sale . .

 . . with a particularly good photo on the cover, though I say so myself, of Chiltern Harrier Tom Beedell taking part in last month's Ridgeway Run . .


 . . because, of course . . theracephotographer.com came to the rescue on Saturday when the author contacted me! And I have to thank Tom for giving permission to be shown on the cover as well of course . . and if you click on the cover you should be able to find out more about Rocco Giordano and his Bleeding Nipples!!

The original photo looks like this . .

 . . so you can see that they didn't crop much out . . and on the inside I've got a full credit too, which I believe is the first time my name and url have appeared in a book . .

 . . and it's my first book cover . . how exciting!!

Monday 15 November 2010

it was an Autumn Challenge . .

There were, it turned out, to be several challenges yesterday. The first one (if you discount getting out of bed) was driving between the lines in the fog that greeted me here in Aylesbury, but as I drove down the A41 to Watford that challenge quickly changed as I had to struggle to see through the bright sunshine that was aimed directly at my windscreen!


By the time I'd got to Cassiobury Park, however, the sun had been replaced by grey clouds, and it was a typical autumn morning, which presented its own challenges in that the places I wanted to take photos were amongst trees, and so the light would be poor.


And finally there was the challenge of getting all the photos online last night, at which I failed. They're almost done, but the day job calls, and so they must wait until this evening for completion. And that's fine, because I do allow myself 48 hours to complete that task, and I'll be well within that deadline.


The race seemed to go well - most of the runners that sped down the hill past me in the final mile looked to be enjoying themselves. There were plenty of things to take photos of in addition to the runners, and I caught up with some old friends and enjoyed their conversation. So even though the sun couldn't be bothered to hang around, I'm pleased that did . .

Thursday 11 November 2010

the Autumn Challenge . .

. . this particular weekend takes place in Watford's Cassiobury Park and consists of a 5 mile race through the woods. The challenge for me of course is to take photos that the runners would like to buy from me . . their challenge is to get round safely and presumably, in most cases anyway, as quickly as they can . .

Last year I was struck by this cathedral of trees which the runners pass through during the first mile . .


and then found that in the final mile, at the top of the hill back down to the park, the previous night's winds had felled this whopping great tree . .


which meant that the runners had to improvise somewhat to get round, and I found myself combining my photography with the role of a marshal . .


As I write this it's a blustery morning, let's hope it doesn't get any worse over the weekend and that this year, the trees remain standing . .

Sunday 7 November 2010

MK Enigma Track Marathon

 . . was held yesterday . . to help raise money for the Brathay Trust . .

My Plan A and Plan B were off for the weekend, and so Plan C took off, which was to go along to Milton Keynes parkrun and help, because they were short of help yesterday and then to go along to the local track and watch this track marathon - something I'd never seen before. And of course, take my cameras . .


 
Although the entry was limited to 50 runners, I knew many of them, and many of the helpers who came along to count laps, and hand out water and so forth . .

And the sun came along too, although it was cold in the shade . . and whilst I was assured of a good day, with friends and clicking away with my cameras, it did seem that everybody else enjoyed it too . .


This morning I'm going to watch the Marlow Half . . wonder if they have a photographer this year?

Thursday 4 November 2010

the Candleford Canter . .

 . . took place at the Oxfordshire Village of Fringford on Sunday. It's a Ladies only 10k, staged by the friendly people at Alchester Running Club (based in Bicester) that's growing year on year, with over 200 entries this year for the first time.


The quality's improving too . . a clubmate of mine pointed out that in 2006 her time of 47.22 put her in 15th position, this year and just 11 seconds slower, and she's in 34th place . .


This year had the added attraction of being on Halloween and the marshals all joined in with the theme, the kilometre markers were all hollowed out pumpkins, and the Cake was to die for!!


The rain which began as we waited for the start and continued throughout most of the race didn't dampen anybody's spirits. I found a pleasant spot amongst some beautiful autumn colours, towards the bottom of a downhill slope in the last kilometre, and waited for the runners to pass me by . .