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!

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!!

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!!

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 . .

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 . .

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?

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 . .