my running matters . .

Christmas party game . .

2011-12-28T23:17:00.000Z

Here's a game for Christmas . . let's play Spot the Difference . .

there are no prizes . . just a shiny red parkrun t-shirt for me

Merry Christmas

2011-12-23T22:48:00.000Z

A quick note to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy and Peaceful New Year. Keep warm, stay safe, and run strong . .

Turning a corner . .

2011-12-10T18:53:00.000Z

Last month I wrote that I was approaching a corner in regard to my own running . . and I think it's now fair to say that I'm part way round it now . .

At the end of November I returned to East Park in Hull and on a windy morning somehow got myself round the 5k parkrun in 29.19, my fastest time in any parkrun since September 2009 . .

Dave Gowans always takes excellent photos at East Park but even he couldn't make me look like the runner I am in my imagination that morning . .

Since seeing the photo above I've tried to run taller and stretch my legs out more, rather than shuffle along all scrunched up . .

And on each of the subsequent two parkruns, I've succeeded in running quicker on that course than ever before. I've not beaten the time I set in Hull, but I was pleased with 31.05 last week and even happier with 30.15 today on what is a slightly more difficult course . .

Many thanks to William Forde for the photo below . . it's hard for me to believe that it was taken only a week after the one above . .

John Harvey is another excellent photographer who comes along to parkruns and takes photos of us all running . . and thanks to him for this photo of me . .

Tomorrow morning it's my turn to take photos and I'm looking forward to being back at the Andy Reading 10k in Oxfordshire, before returning to Abingdon next weekend to see if I can shave any more seconds off my time there . .

Dirt Half Challenge meets expectations

2011-11-28T21:46:00.001Z

Last Saturday saw the second running of the Dirt Half Challenge, a great race that starts and finishes on the southern outskirts of Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire, takes the runners north along the Grand Union Canal for 5 miles, up into Great Brickhill, across through the woods in Rushmere Park, and down the Greensand Ridge before 3 more flat miles along the canal, and the final climb up around Tiddenfoot Pit back to the finish beside Cedars Upper School.

I had planned to take photos at the Three Locks pub, and then again on the canal at a point quite close to the finish, as I had last year. However in the week before the race, Andy Hulley, the organiser, aked if I would consider instead going up into Rushmere Park and taking photos of the runners coming through the woods. Always eager to please, I said yes, subject to there being enough light. Last year the race had taken place on a dank day which did nothing for my photography and meant that I struggled to get good sharp images. I needn't have worried, as last Saturday was in fact so bright and sunny, that any runner wearing reflective clothing was almost too bright. I did get up into the woods, and found a nice spot in a small glade where the runners would all be coming past, and got all the photos I wanted.

My plan for the day was to take photos of everybody streaming past me at the start of the event, and I wobbled at the top of my step ladder as they did so that I was able to look down at everyone. I'd realised that I might be able to stop by the canal on my way to Rushmere Park and take a few more photos, and in fact about half of the 448 runners had gone by before I had to carry on up Old Linslade Road and get to my next photo opportunity.

It wasn't long before Greg Spellman, who went on to win the race (repeating his success of last year), came by . . and 65 minutes of shouting and shutter pushing later, the tail cyclist Clive Thomas came by. In between them had been runners of all ages and abilities, wearing all manner of colours, and mostly smiling broadly too. By this time they were in the 9th mile, and they were on their way back down to the canal.

Around 380 of the runners had already finished by the time I returned to Race HQ, so there weren't many of them still out there for me to take photos of. It didn't seem long before they were all back in, and Clive had reappeared on his bike, and we could put everything away and go home.

Several runners said how much they were enjoying themselves as they ran by, and others have commented on how much they enjoyed themselves when buying photos from me. I can only agree, and say that from my perspective it seems to be a great race to take part in. As with most of the races I take photos of, it's one I'd love to take part in myself one day.

Meanwhile, I'm already looking forward to taking photos there next year, and I've got almost 12 months to walk the course and find somewhere different to take my photos. This year's set can be found here on my website, with an executive summary here, in Facebook . .

Coming to a corner . .

2011-11-15T22:52:00.007Z

I raced on Sunday . . or maybe I should say that I took part in a race. It was extremely hard work, but well worth the effort . .

I've continued to run in different parkruns through the autumn, at East Park in Hull, Concord Park in Sheffield, Braunstone Park in Leicester, Southwick Country Park in Trowbridge and at Rye Meadow in Abingdon . . and I've taken photos a few times at Abingdon too . . here's me running past Southwick's Spirit of parkunner statue at the start of the final lap . . thanks to Andrew Morrison for the photo . .

So Southwick's time came as a surprise. But also a relief. Because at the end of October in 2009 I took over 30 minutes for a 5k for the first time (and that was a very unwelcome shock, believe me). Since then I've struggled with my breathing and have tried to learn to breath whist running again. Finally I understood that I had become obsessed with my breathing, and so had to learn to ignore it, and allow it to take care of itself. And finally it feels as if my hard work is paying off.

I wouldn't say that I've turned a corner, but I've certainly arrived at one. I've begun going to my running club on Wednesday evenings, where there is now a bridging group to help aid the transition from new runner to joining the regular groups. And for someone returning from illness or injury, the bridging group is invaluable. So having not run through either of the past two winters, I'm planning on training right through this one, and we'll see where that gets me.

The race on Sunday was Watford Joggers' Autumn Challenge, where I've taken photos for the past two years, but not having had much take up decided just to come along without my cameras and watch, and cheer on some friends who were taking part. The recent good feeling I've had about my running persuaded me to enter what would be my first event of longer than 5k since I took part in the Guy Fawkes 10 miler in November 2009. I declared that to be my final race and I'm very pleased that it wasn't. I have to report that 5 miles is an awfully long way, that there were 4 runners less fast than I, and that Cassiobury Park and Whippendell Woods are quite beautiful in autumn sunshine. The avenue of trees above was great to run through on the way out of Cassiobury Park, but it was hard work going back the other way.

The previous day I'd been on photo duty at the 28th Abingdon parkrun, and here are a couple of photos taken during the run . .

followed by a little montage showing the fun we had outside Coffee Republic in the Market Place after the run . .

On Saturday I'll be at the 2nd Dirt Half Marathon Challenge, at Leighton Buzzard . . and you'll find the photos here

Lucky Sunday afternoon . .

2011-09-16T22:26:00.000+01:00

I had a great stroke of good fortune last Sunday. I'd enjoyed the morning taking photos of the participants in the Dunstable Downs Challenge . . and when I'd almost filled a memory chip swapped it with a fresh one, and placed the used one in my pocket . .

As I do each year, I took photos of the runners up on top of the Downs, snaking along the footpath towards me . .

. . and then went to this field just south of Studham . .

. . before returning to the hill at the edge of the Downs, where the runners would come back into Dunstable . .

This year, instead of hanging around near the bottom of the hill to wait for everyone, I struggled up to the top of the hill for a while and got some different photos from those I'd usually take . .

. . and of course there were lots of other things to keep me occupied whilst waiting for more runners . .

But once this rain started tumbling down I began to struggle to keep my camera dry, and decided it was time to go home. But once there, I couldn't find that memory chip. Emptied everything, including the car, but it was nowhere to be found. So I drove back to the Downs, never really believing I would find the chip but needing to do something and satisfy my curiosity. Amazingly, even as I pulled into the layby, I could see the chip on the road. It was soaking wet, but didn't seem to be damaged. Got it home, and yes, it worked, and the hundreds of photos I'd spent hours taking were safe. Somebody was looking after me that afternoon . .

To have a look at many of the photos that almost didn't see the light of day, please follow this link . .

Return to the Blogosphere . .

2011-08-31T11:07:00.000+01:00

It's been a fairly quiet summer, certainly when compared with the weeks ahead when suddenly it's going to get busy . .

in July I was in Oxfordshire, at the Addenbury 10k and Half Marathon, where the smiley people at the drinks station instinctively knew to pose with the windmill clearly visible behind them, with no direction from me . .

Later in the month I was at the Buckinghamshire village of Mentmore, where Leighton Buzzard Runners held their Club Duathlon . .

and then I popped over to Bedfordshire, to Bedford Park in Bedford, for the Doug Anderson 5k, where I struggled with the Wednesday evening light, but still got some interesting photos . .

August found me back in Oxfordshire, at the 15th Abingdon parkrun, beside the River Thames at Pye Meadow . .

and then closer to home in Buckinghamshire, for the Bearbrook 10k at Weston Turville . .

and they've all been good fun, and I must thank the race organisers for having me along, and the runners for their smiles and waves and kind words as they run past me . .

Now September is upon us (how did that happen?) and it's my busiest month, starting with the Dunstable Downs Challenges - 13.1,20 or 26.2 miles of beautiful Chiltern countryside . . with hardly a marshal in sight and some navigation required . . so there are often groups of runners from the same club running and racing together . .

although not everyone feels the need to hold hands as they get closer to the finish . .

The following weekend I'll be back in Abingdon, taking photos at the town's 20th parkrun on the Saturday, and next day I'll be in that London, at the inaugural Credit Suisse Beckton Park Challenge, where there'll be a 3k Junior race, and 5k and 10k races for all ages . .

and then it's one of my favourite events on the calendar, the JW Ultra - 30 miles of canal from Stratford-on-Avon to Bournville in Birmingham . .

This cluster of races is completed early in October by the Ridgeway Run, 15k of running over beautiful Hertfordshire countryside - a lovely event organised by my own club, Tring Running Club . .

Do please keep popping back to www.theracephotographer.com to find my photos from these events . .

Trent Park Triffic 10k more than OK . .

2011-06-30T23:34:00.001+01:00

Had a great morning in Trent Park last Sunday, taking photos of Trent Park Running Club's Triffic Trail 10k. It was red hot just standing still and pressing a button on a camera, goodness knows how it felt to be racing 10k . .

Trent Country Park was spectacular in the sunshine . . if you don't know it, it's in Enfield in North London . . and before the 10k started I took my step ladder for a walk . .

And although I couldn't actually see the start from where I was waiting, it wasn't long before over 300 runners came streaming across the meadow towards me . .

It didn't seem much longer before the runners were all headed back to the finish . . a bit more spread out after just over 9k of course . . and amazingly, some still had the energy to wave and smile as they ran past . .

But most were just focussed on reaching the finish line, and who could blame them in Sunday's heat?

If you'd like to see all my photos from this great 10k, click somewhere here . .

Running Free

2011-06-15T19:34:00.000+01:00

Well I've certainly allowed this blog of mine to lapse, haven't I . . and I need to pick it up and start running with it again . . it's funny how the longer you leave something like this the more difficult it becomes to start again . .

Time now to get going again, as I want to thank the organisers of the recent Richmond Park Marathon for having me along on the day to take photos of the event, because if they hadn't then some of my photos wouldn't have appeared on the cover of, and inside, the latest edition of Running Free magazine . .

Thanks also to Fiona Bugler, the editor, and her team, for choosing to use some of my photos . . and thanks too to the runners for their fantastic reaction to seeing a bloke on a step ladder pointing a camera at them . .

The photos below were taken beside Bishop's Pond, close to Richmond and Bishop's Gates . . one of them is the photo used on the cover of Running Free . . but I thought it might be amusing to show the full sequence of images I took of this particular bunch of runners as they approached and ran past me . . and you can see the rest of my photos from the Marathon here . .

Normal service will be resumed . .

2011-04-07T08:01:00.001+01:00

Last weekend didn't turn out as anticipated and unfortunately I had to let Alexia and Steve at the Arkendale 10k down, because I couldn't get to their event on Sunday. They were great about it, of course, and I didn't have a choice really, but I was disappointed nevertheless . .

I had managed to get along with Di to Hull parkrun on Saturday morning though, and thanks are due to Dave Gowans for this portrait of a finely tuned athlete in his prime! The morning was great fun with the run preceded by a presentation ceremony following Hull parkrun's very successful first year . .

Since then the weather has got sunnier and warmer and I've been out and about at lunchtime finding butterflies . .

And in the evening, looking at birds . . well, you do, don't you? And this weekend I'll be back taking photos, at the Darent Valley 10k, and so normal service will be resumed . . I hope!

Another Yorkshire weekend ahead . .

2011-03-31T23:20:00.000+01:00

I'll be back up at the correct end of the M1 this weekend . . hopefully I'll be at Hull parkrun's 53rd event, which is to be their 1st birthday party, on Saturday morning . .

On Sunday I'll be up the other side of Knaresborough, revisiting the Arkendale 10k, where I had great fun last year as the sheep dodged the runners as they ran over Arkendale Moor. Or maybe it was the runners doing the dodging?

And I've just had confirmed this week that on Easter Day I'll be back north of York once again to take photos of the Black Horse Helmsley 10k. I'm especially looking forward to that event as Helmsley has a special place in my family's background, as you'll find out if you click here . .

Keep in touch with my photos at theracephotographer.com . .

Milton Keynes . . and Carterton . .

2011-03-30T08:28:00.000+01:00

A quiet running weekend, really, spent at the Milton Keynes parkrun on Saturday morning and the Carterton 10k on Sunday . .

Despite having run every day since sometime in the mid-60's British running legend (the first Brit to run a sub-2.10 marathon) had never run a parkrun before so it was great for the 192 others of us at MK on Saturday to rub shoulders with him on his parkrun debut (although I doubt if the 6 year old girl who beat me again was too bothered!) . . I expect he was waiting to see if parkrun would catch on! My own shoulders lagged a long way behind RH but I managed to finish with a smile of course . .

The Carterton 10k took in two laps of the town and was a flurry of activity for a couple of hours and then all returned to normality in the Oxfordshire town that's a close neighbour of Brize Norton . .

I had a good friend who was home from Denmark for the weekend for company and he and I lined up my position for some excellent shots of the runners . .

Except we were in the wrong place and had to move . . and so missed around the first 20 runners on their first lap. I can draw maps for a living but I can't read them! Had a great morning and lunch at the Jolly Boatman wasn't so bad either!

The early part of the week here in Aylesbury has been quite sunny and the Butterflies are coming out for the new season . . there's a footpath alongside a stream close to work and I've often looked for Butterflies along there in the past 2 years . . but this was the first time I'd seen a Comma there . .

Back to normal now . .

2011-03-23T22:39:00.006Z

After a lovely week in Hull and York with close friends and family it's good to be back in a routine now. I managed to run Hull parkrun last Saturday in a second under 35 minutes - my fastest time since October last year . .

The culmination of the week was Mum's 80th birthday, and the party in the Corner Cupboard in Birdforth in North Yorkshire, was great fun . .

The building itself is in the village's old school building, which is in the shadow of Kilburn White Horse . .

I'll be back to taking running photographs this weekend . . at the Carterton 10k in Oxfordshire . .

back to Bedfont Lakes . .

2011-03-13T22:08:00.001Z

No photos from me this weekend as it's a family occasion. Saturday began for me at 4.30am, when I got up to go to Heathrow to meet my brother and niece who were due in at 5.25 from Melbourne . . I walked into the Terminal 3 arrivals hall at 6am and Phil and Amanda came through less than 5 minutes later . . almost perfect timing . .

A quick chat and a coffee later, and Phil and Amanda were off into London, where Amanda is spending a couple of days sight and show seeing . . whilst I lugged their luggage to my car. Phil wanted to see that Amanda got settled into her hotel properly, and so I was going to return to Bedfont Lakes parkrun to see my friends there for the first time since I ran dressed as a clown on October 30th last year . .

It was lovely to see so many old friends, a reminder of the times when I was a regular down there, and gratifying and flattering that they were so pleased to see me . .

This was my third parkrun in 3 weeks and it's the only running I've done in that time. Of the three courses (Hull, Milton Keynes and Bedfont Lakes) this is the slowest, being all off road, with a few slopes to contend with . .

Despite that I managed to post my fastest time this year . . and faster than my previous two visits to Bedfont Lakes . . still nowhere near the times I want to be doing but it's the right kind of progress . .

Soon after finishing I was changed, had made my farewells with promises to be back as soon as possible, and was off to Hatton Cross tube station where Phil was waiting for me . .

And 4 hours later, we were here in York, with our parents . .

Thanks to Kath for the two photos . . the first taken on the first lap . . the second just a few paces from the finish . .

Hanging around at a crossroads . .

2011-03-09T08:17:00.001Z

So there I was, on Sunday, hanging around at a crossroads, as you do (and what a splendid sign this is, by the way) . .

Taking photos of wild flowers, again, as you do . .

When a marshal called out . .

"Photographer, there's a runner coming" . . well, actually, it turned out that there was more than one . . these are just the first three . .

With the first lady not far behind . .

It was desperately cold standing round pushing a little button and calling out encouragement, don't think I've been so cold all winter . . so goodness knows how some of the runners felt . . but many of them managed to wave and seemed pleased to see me . .

Another lovely morning out with my running friends . . and you can see lots more photos here . .

10k's are the future . .

2011-03-04T08:06:00.001Z

All of a sudden the future is 10k-tastic (sorry!) . .

This Sunday I'll be at the Leighton 10k. This is a new event down the road from here at Leighton Buzzard, and as it's new, I can't illustrate it! It'll be interesting to see how many runners it attracts as it faces competition from the well-established Berkhamstead Half, which also has a 5 mile race attached to it . .

Then I've got the following 2 weekends off (sorry again!) because there's a significant family birthday in the middle of the month, so significant in fact that my brother and niece are coming over from Australia to take part in the celebrations . .

But as soon as they're gone I'll be back out, on the 27th, at the Carterton 10k, which is over near RAF Brize Norton. I've never been there before so I can't yet illustrate that event either!

The following weekend it's Mothering Sunday and where else would I be but up in York, at Mother's. And, of course, at the Arkendale 10k in North Yorkshire, which is a race I covered last year, so here's a photo of the runners shortly after the start . .

Here's a shot of the Arkendale Formation Sheep Team, who kept whizzing over the moor as the runners ran across towards me . .

The following weekend I'm returning to another event that I covered last year, the Darent Valley 10k down in Kent . . where last year I was very naughty and took photos at the top of this evil hill in the 7th or 8th kilometre. I've promised to go somewhere different this time!

That's enough 10k's for now although there are more to tell you about, and I'll do that over the coming weeks . . and remember that you can see all my photos of these races here . . have a good weekend . .

parkrun . . I made it!

2011-03-01T08:10:00.000Z

. . another weekend with no cameras in my hands (we're back to normal this coming weekend, don't worry!) . .

Hull parkrun was flat, as it is every week, and I was grateful for that as I lugged my groaning self around 5k for the first time since I ran at the Bedfont Lakes parkrun on October 30th. Remarkably, I was less than a minute slower than I had been on that occasion. Goodness knows what I'd stuffed down my top before the run - I don't remember doing it but no wonder it takes me so long to get round! As always it was good to see the people I know at East Park, and Di had a good run, within a minute of her pb. Thanks to Dave Gowans for the photo below . .

That evening we went to the Grand Opera House in York, a lovely little theatre, and enjoyed a really good performance by 10CC. I'd forgotten many of their songs and enjoyed hearing them again. They'd clearly rehearsed long and hard for the tour as the harmonies were astonishing and the whole show was spot on . .

Thanks to Di for this photo, taken with her phone, and for the one below of me beside the untroubled water of York's River Ouse on Sunday morning ..

. . better go now as my website's not working . . *sigh* . . isn't the internet wonderful! But when it is working, you'll find it here . . Happy March!!

No running to report this week . .

2011-02-24T22:53:00.000Z

. . but last weekend was lovely, much of it spent in the town I grew up, Sutton Coldfield, and all of it spent with Di . .

. . the focus of the weekend was a concert on Saturday night . . Ben Folds supported by Kate Miller-Heidke . . and it really was an excellent night out . .

. . here are a couple of photos that Di took of Ben Folds from the balcony we were on . . as you can see, we had a great view . .

. . and on Sunday we enjoyed a walk in Sutton Park . . and spent some time admiring the local wildlife . .

. . I won't be taking photos this weekend either . . we're visiting York to see 10CC on Saturday night . . although I've just packed a load of running kit which means that I'm almost certainly going to try to propel myself around East Park, in Saturday morning's Hull parkrun . . abd given that I haven't taken part in a parkrun . . nor any other sort of run for that matter . . since October 30th . . it's not going to be pretty . .

. . next week I'll write about some 10k's I'll be taking photos at in the coming months . . all being well there'll be some exciting news so watch this space!!

Never mind the rain . .

2011-02-17T22:14:00.001Z

. . well I tried not to, but it did make Sunday difficult. Saturday had been a lovely day, Di and I enjoyed strolling around Stow on the Wold, and found some ideas for what to do with some of my photos . . Sunday lived up (or should I say down?) to the weather forecast and Wiltshire was Wet and Windy, and taking photos at the Wiltshire 10 was going to be challenging . .

It was lovely to catch up with some running friends from both Bath and Bitton who I'd not seen for several years, and it was a thrill to meet Ian Thompson, the winner of both the Commonwealth Games and the European Games' Marathons in 1974 . . he's the gentleman stood on the right of the group here waiting for the start of the Wiltshire 10 on Sunday . .

Once the race was under way I drove over to the half way point in Lacock, where I met up with Di, keeping nice and dry under her umbrella . . and I liked the look of this view down East Street, looking towards the Bakers' shop . .

When the runners reached Lacock it was hard work in the rain and the gloom. I managed to get some nice photos of many of the runners, including this one of the winning lady, Holly Rush of Team Bath . . but the photo below shows what I was up against in terms of the conditions . .

It only took a matter of 40 minutes for the Wiltshire 10 to pass through Lacock, and by 11.15 the village was once again in the care of its residents and visitors . . and as I made my way back to the car, and thence to Race HQ at Melksham, I enjoyed the first of this year's Spring flowers . .

You'll find these and many more photos from my morning at the Wiltshire 10 here . .

Good weekend coming up . .

2011-02-11T23:40:00.000Z

Off to the Cotswolds tomorrow, to meet Di for lunch in a pretty village . . and then on Sunday to take photos in Lacock of the Wiltshire 10 road race.

This is a new race, starting and finishing in Melksham (and I'll be taking photos there too) and no doubt the organisers are proud to have sold out - the last of the 300 places was taken 5 days ago. Having seen the list of entrants there are several runners taking part who I used to run with 20 or more years ago - I'm looking forward to seeing them once again as you might imagine.

It'll be good to have Di to keep me company as I take photos in Lacock. The village belongs to the National Trust, as you may know, so I may need to find somewhere away from the grockles to find a good vantage point. But I'm hoping to get some shots with some of the half timbered buildings in the background.

Lacock is also home of the Fox Talbot Museum. Henry Fox Talbot was born, lived and died in the village, and 140 years ago he was taking photographs - one of the early British photographic pioneers.

A visit to the Fox Talbot Museum will have to wait for another time . . and on Sunday I'll be wondering what Mr Talbot would have made of it all . .

Cheerful and Chilly at Charnwood . .

2011-02-08T21:32:00.000Z

Sunday was dry, which hadn't been expected, but windy which had been. The wind made it hard work walking at times . . and I don't suppose it was any easier running!

One of the first things I did was, of course, check the cake, and it certainly lived up to expectations when compared to what had been available last year! Above is just a very small sample . .

. . and then when the runners were off on their was across the Charnwood Hills, I followed them across the fields and paths and admired the lovely views as I did . .

. . I walked a little further around the course this year . . and took photos of the runners coming back down from the hills to a point where they had to cross a stream . . from where I stood it looked like a reasonably straight trail but as we can see, it can't have been . .

. . perhaps next year (and I've already been invited back, which is great) I'll walk up to the top of this trail and get shots of everyone coming down off the hills . .

. . the trouble with that of course is that it gives me further to walk back to Race HQ . . but I timed it right this year and the last few runners passed me by on their way to the finish . .

. . when it was great to see that even at this stage, after almost 14 miles and nearly 3 hours of running, the competitive spirit was still there . .

. . and having reached the finish, and got indoors, a nice lady gave me a cup of coffee . . and said the words "cake" and "help yourself" in the same sentence! I was restrained, of course, and had just one slice of flapjack . . which brings us neatly back to the first photo . .

. . and you can see all my photos from the Charnwood Hills Race here . .

and where did that week just go?

2011-02-04T08:10:00.000Z

. . it doesn't seem like almost a week since I was in lovely East Park in Hull in the sunshine but it says so on the calendar so I guess it must be . .

. . it was the fourth time I'd visited Hull parkrun, but the first with my camera and the park, as most parks are, is very photogenic. Last Saturday it was crisply cold, bright and sunny, frosty and frozen . .

. . which just made the Park more lovely than ever . . and I especially liked the way the sun was reflecting off different aspects of the bridge over Ferens Lake . .

. . and I remembered to look down, as well as up . . which was just as well because you never know what you might find . .

. . the following morning I returned to Cottingham and Skidby, where I took the photo that's currently the first thing you see when you open this blog last year. Unfortunately the weather for this year's Ferriby 10 mile road race was damp and gloomy . .

. . and many of the runners were wrapped up almost as much as I was! Once again Skidby Windmill proved irresitible . .

. . whilst the racing was hard and determined . . reinforcing my contention that nobody runs a 10 mile race for fun!

Looking forward to the weekend . .

2011-01-27T23:14:00.000Z

. . going back to York . . going back to Hull . .

. . on Saturday morning I'm going with Di to East Park to take some photos whilst Di runs in Hull parkrun . . just a few photos of the runners, and some of the park too . .

. . whilst on Sunday, I'll be close to the windmill at the head of the page . . near Skidby . . for the Ferriby 10 mile road race . . I was there last year, so here are just a few photos I took then . . looking forward to seeing everyone there again this time round . .

. . so the sun didn't shine this year . .

2011-01-26T22:57:00.011Z

Having suggested last week that the organisers of the Brass Monkey might like to book me because the sun always shines when I go to their race . . it let me down this year!!

. . I popped across the A64 from Wigginton to Appleton Roebuck on Sunday morning to support friends taking part in this year's Half Marathon . . unfortunately I could have sworn that the course went round the loop at the end in an anti-clockwise direction, so I figured I was going to somewhere around 4 miles . . which would leave me plenty of time to get back to my parents' for an early lunch . . and here's the bunch of friendly marshals who explained that the loop is run in the opposite direction . . and I was somewhere around half way round the course . . and I may be late for lunch!

. . despite the lack of sunshine, it turned out to be a good day for racing . . and indeed, not a bad day for watching either . . here's the eventual winner . .

. . this group of runners were racing hard for 7th place . .

. . and this lady, in 2nd place at this point, went on to finish first . .

. . whilst finally, here are just two of the friends who seemed pleased to see me out on the course . .

. . wonder if the sun will shine next year?

Brass Monkey . .

2011-01-19T22:06:00.001Z

It's one of Yorkshire's finest running events on Sunday, the Brass Monkey Half Marathon, staged by Knavesmire Harriers of York, with Race HQ in the Grandstand at the famous Knavesmire Racecourse . .

I've taken part 2 or 3 times, and enjoyed it, and been along and supported a couple of times, and enjoyed it almost as much . . here I am in 2004, under a clear blue sky, finishing in 1.48-ish . . those were the days!!

Whenever I go to this race it's always sunny. Perhaps the organisers should hire me to be there? Frosty to begin with and possibly slippery in a few places, and ever so cold whilst waiting for the start but of course when you get running you soon warm up and wish you hadn't kept those legs covered!

I took the last 2 photos when I was watching the race in 2009 (okay so there's a little cloud!). They're in the first ½ mile of the Half, when the runners have left the Racecourse and are heading into Bishopthorpe . .

In the first photo is Dave M, one of my friends from Leeds parkrun, who won't have ever seen this photo . . and Vikki K and Rick P are in the second photo. I hadn't met Dave and Rick when I took these photos, and didn't know Vikki was taking part, so it was nice to look back and find them in my photos . .

. . and after this race, I bought my first DLSR camera, and started to take more, and better photos . . and run less too . . and if anybody who's taking part on Sunday should read this - good luck, have a good strong race and enjoy the day . .

Good to be back . .

2011-01-17T08:21:00.012Z

I enjoyed being back in Bristol at the weekend, catching up with old friends . . and at Sunday's Riverbank Rollick seeing and having a chat with former clubmates from way back . . I really couldn't remember the last time I spoke to some of the Bitton Road Runners who were there, and it's 2 or 3 years since I saw friends from Hogweed Trotters . .

The race seemed to go well - it was good weather for running and reasonable weather (given the month we're in) for photography too, and the rain held off until the last runners had finished . .

The Riverside Rollick is held by Thornbury Running Club, in South Gloucestershire. Starting near St Mary's Church, you leave the town and head west, mostly across country . .

. . as far as you can go until you reach the Severn Estuary, where you run along the bank for about a mile, heading south and into the prevailing wind, with the two bridges into Wales in the distance and never seeming to get any closer . .

. . and after a mile or so of windy running, you turn left again and head east, over the hills and the golf course, to the finish in Munday playing fields, where the cruel twist that means the course follows an ice cold stream for a few yards does give the runners the opportunity to clean their running shoes . .

. . and I know all this because having taken part in the Rollick in 2008 I've had first hand experience!

. . Bristol Saturday . . Thornbury Sunday . .

2011-01-14T08:23:00.002Z

My good friend Jan in Bristol suggested that I might like to take photos at one of the races her club (Thornbury Running Club) stages . . which is why tomorrow I'm driving to Bristol, seeing my old boss for lunch, and staying with old friends in Cotham. On the way down, I'll pop into Thornbury and make sure I know where I'm going on race-day. I used to live nearby so I've already got a pretty good idea, but it's best to make sure if you have the time available . .

At this stage of course, I don't have any photos of the Riverside Rollick to share with you so here are a couple of my favourite photos from the 2005 Bristol Half Marathon . . I love being by the water and so these two shots looking across the harbour to the stream of runners are amongst my favourites, and I just wish I'd had a better camera in those days . .

And finally, I thought it might be nice to close with a photo of Jan, taken in that same race, which until a few moments ago I'd forgotten I'd got, and which Jan may never have seen. Thanks for the tip about the Rollick, Jan, and see you on Sunday :-)

Out with the Old . . In with the New . .

2011-01-11T08:26:00.007Z

It's taken me a while to wish you a Very Happy New Year but there are still 354 days remaining so hopefully it's not too late!

Changes have taken place here at Whinchat Labs, to my website, that is . . and where last year we looked like this . .

. . the New Year New Look is here . .

. . and hopefully you can see that the italic typeface has gone, replaced by something bolder and, my glamorous assistant assures me, more professional in appearance . .

. . also gone are the contrasting colours I'd used for the last 2 years, to be replaced by a series of 5 colours which will be complemented by shades of the same colour . . and on some pages of my site will be rotated on a monthly basis, so it always looks slightly different, even though really, it isn't . .

. . so new colours, new typeface, new look . . if only it had been that simple!!

. . a Willen Winter Wonderland . .

2010-12-26T15:39:00.000Z

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 . .

Seasons Greetings . .

2010-12-21T19:50:00.000Z

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 . .

. . ice, ice, baby . .

2010-12-13T07:50:00.001Z

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 . .

Weather from the Wardrobe . .

2010-12-08T20:37:00.000Z

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 . .

No races to report on . .

2010-12-01T18:21:00.001Z

. . 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 4^th race about whether they’d like me to go along or not and then I’ll blog about them . .

two bridges . .

2010-11-24T08:27:00.000Z

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 . .

2010-11-19T08:17:00.000Z

. . 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 . .

2010-11-17T08:01:00.003Z

. . 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 . .

2010-11-15T08:25:00.000Z

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 . .

2010-11-11T08:11:00.000Z

. . 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

2010-11-07T07:25:00.000Z

. . 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 . .

2010-11-04T08:32:00.000Z

. . 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 . .

Clowning Around

2010-10-31T09:03:00.000Z

I did say something about fancy dress and plodding the other day didn't I, and so here's the evidence . .

When the first photo was taken I was so pleased to see the photographer, Kath Adamson, that I quite forgot that I'd painted a sad face on . .

but by the time this shot was taken, in the final stretch of the 5k parkrun, I didn't need to put on any kind of face . .

thanks, Kath, for the photos, and that's way too many photos of me for one month . . I'm off in a moment to Fringford, or Candleford if you prefer, in Oxfordshire, where for the 2nd year in a row there's a record entry for the Ladies only 10k. What a difference having theracephotographer come along makes!

That Looks Better

2010-10-28T08:27:00.001+01:00

To set the balance right after the photo on Tuesday, here's how you'll usually see me, with camera, and smiling! These were taken by Sussex Sports Photography whilst I was having fun at the Abingdon Marathon the other weekend . .

This Sunday I'm taking photos at Alchester AC's Candleford Canter 10k - for Ladies only, sorry Chaps - and hoping the weather's kind for us all . .

Before that though, I'll be plodding around the Bedfont Lakes parkrun, in fancy dress, for Halloween, so watch this space . .

My Running Matters . .

2010-10-26T07:53:00.000+01:00

Yep, another fresh start! I do want to keep this blog up to date, otherwise what's the point?

So to celebrate the change of blog name, and to start to look forward, here's a photo of me taken at Hull parkrun last Saturday by Dave Gowans . .

And if you think this isn't a pretty sight (and it's not good is it, although I blame my bum bag for the unfortunate waist) then be grateful I've shown the image from the first lap and not the second!

I've used this photo to show all those runners who don't like their photo when I've taken it, that it happens to all of us, even those who are normally behind the camera . .

Catching up . . again . .

2010-07-09T08:08:00.001+01:00

Well, as I write this, I’ve no idea when I last updated this blog, except that it was probably in early March.

So, much has happened since then. I’m now back at work (aka the day job) full time again. I’ve covered a good few races and in doing so have been to some lovely places and met some interesting people.

Perhaps the most interesting event was the ZSL Whipsnade Zoo 10k, which my friends at Dunstable Road Runners stage early in June. Obviously the setting makes it stand apart from most races – it’s not often that you get the chance to run past Cheetahs and Zebras, for example, and also the fact that I took part in this event last year, so apart from parkruns, it’s the first event I’ve photographed that I’d previously run in.

Having reluctantly begun to acknowledge that I’m not invincible, I’ve stopped trying to find a race to photograph every weekend, and indeed, if I’m covering a race on Sunday, I won’t take photos at a parkrun the previous day (although I’ll still help out in some way).

And now that it’s July, it’s 12 months since the first event I covered thoroughly, the Harlow 10, so I’m looking forward to an autumn spent revisiting the events I covered last time around.

I’m branching out, too. Last weekend I took photos at a Wedding for the first time. That was an experience – I’m used to people running off after I’ve photographed them! It was the wedding of Sarah and Chris, two running friends of mine, and had I not already known many of the guests I’d most likely have turned them down. But I’m pleased I accepted the invitation, because despite being extremely hard work the whole day was great fun and it was a pleasure to be able to give my two friends something special as their wedding gift.

Can’t deny it was a disappointment not to be invited along to take the exterior shots on their honey moon though – I’m sure that Las Vegas, Hawaii and San Francisco are very nice at this time of year.

Next Sunday I’m taking photos at the Big Dance event at Crystal Palace. I’m more confident about this than I was about the wedding because after all, dance is like running, only stood still whilst you do it. There are all sorts of dances being demonstrated, from Salsa to Tango to Lindyhop to Bollywood, and it should be great fun.

I’ll try to remember to come back and let you know!

That was last week that was

2010-03-09T17:29:00.001Z

A quiet week really. Still not at work, don’t seem any closer to returning. A week for recharging batteries once again. Trouble is that I think I need completely new batteries!

Anyway, a good week for photographs . . supplied several to parkrun in Bromley for use in some publicity and heard only nice things from the design agency concerned.

Wednesday I made it to running club, for the committee meeting, and although there’s one issue which caused me to glaze over, by and large it was a good evening.

Friday I went up to Wendover Woods to greet some of the Old Men of Tring, and have coffee and toasted bacon and tomato sandwiches. Very nice. Got a few good photos too, of some trees mostly – hardly surprising given where I was at the time!

Saturday found me back in Milton Keynes for parkrun number 8, and very good it was too. Got some great photos, the cheekiest of which is here

And I took some video footage of the start and of the runners passing by at approximately 4½k. Haven’t finished the *direction* yet but I’m working on it!

The parkrun in MK is picking up very nicely, with a good strong group of regular runners, a steady stream of newcomers, and ever more people volunteering. And ever so gradually, more people stopping back for coffee afterwards!!

Then on Sunday it was back to Wendover Woods, to support at the MT5 race which had been cancelled in each of the last 2 Januarys because of the weather, and although it wasn’t rearranged in 2009 it was this time around. Again, I’ve posted a few good photos in Facebook, but one I especially like is this one

And now I’m in Bristol for a few days, catching up with some old and dear friends, and missing my daughter by 24 hours because I messed up the arrangements. So look out Bristol because I’ll be back again soon!!

time to reflect

2010-02-28T00:13:00.000Z

great Saturday morning at parkrun Leeds . . but of all the photos I took this sums up where I am the best . .

changes afoot . .

2010-02-26T23:45:00.000Z

just whilst I'm changing the title and appearance of my blog, time to add a few words

in the last 10 days or so I've been pleased to have been invited to cover the Arkendale 10k in North Yorkshire, on Sunday 28 March, and the Folkestone 10 mile on Good Friday

both as a result of emails from me which received a positive response . . they're miles apart of course . . one is a fairly new event staged by a team of personal trainers and fitness advisers who have got into organising a couple of races each year . . and the other is an event of long-standing held by a traditional running club

and I think it's great that both approaches to race organisation can flourish in our sport. I'm looking forward to them both as I'm bound to know some of the runners at each event, plus the trip to North Yorkshire will give me an opportunity to catch up with friends at Leeds parkrun . . which is always nice

also this week I passed up a great opportunity to take photos at a 10k race with 4-5,000 entrants. I was thrilled to be offered the chance, of course, and had 2 or 3 people lined up to come and help me with the photography, but the more I thought about it, I came to realise that I wouldn't be able to manage the post-event service of selecting images for display, getting them online and hopefully selling some of them. Well, I could have managed it, but it would have taken a few weeks by which time all the runners would have forgotten about that event and moved on to the next one!

it's all very well hearing that *kerching* sound between your ears but I need to cut my coat according to my cloth, so I'll stick to the kind of smaller event that I can manage on my own for now

that's all for now . . if you've been here before you'll notice I've changed the appearance of this blog, and included one of my favourite photos (taken at the Ferriby 10, by the way, in the East Riding) in the header, and from now on I'll be blogging more often and putting down my thoughts on all sorts of things that are affecting me . . my interests, my job, and my health . . maybe in that order, maybe not . . let's wait and see shall we . . but whatever, I'll try to make it not too run of the mill

goodnight!

Spring Saturday Winter Sunday

2010-02-21T17:15:00.000Z

Just wanted to bang out a few words whilst working on today's photos. Funny one this morning, the Winslow 10k just along the road from Aylesbury. Had a surprise when half way there the world became a winter wonderland and suddenly I had to switch off the auto pilot and pay attention to my driving . .

Plenty of people turned up for the race despite there being a popular 6 mile off road race about 5 miles away (why? there are 51 other weekends after all!!) . . and all the officials and marshals were friendly and chatty beforehand . .

Once the race was under way I walked along the course towards the runners to find a good spot for my photos, bearing in mind that it was trying to snow and I wanted to stay dry. And Lo! There was a Bus Shelter ahead . . it was on the *wrong* side of the road, but had a good view down the hill, and as the runners passed me there would be a nice big hedge behind them . .

So much for the theory! As the first 3 runners approached someone parked opposite me. I know they're entitled too, but it was frustrating. And it was too late for me to get anywhere else. I'll have to carry bollards around with me in future!! After another 40 minutes, someone parked in front of the car opposite, thus ruining completely the view across the road. Bloomin' great tank it was too. *Sigh* . .

And so some of my photos today are just not good enough, everyone's blurry and that . . but there are a few that are worth displaying and it's those that I'm working on at the moment . .

It was lovely and sunny on Saturday though, wasn't it :-)

Above is the view down the hill from my bus shelter today, at the Winslow 10k . .

I knew it had been a while but . .

2010-02-10T11:08:00.000Z

Well yes, I knew I hadn't blogged in a while but never dreamt it had been so long since I last reported in . .

But better late than never, I guess. I've spent the past few months enjoying getting out with my camera and photographing races and runners, and getting further involved with parkrun, to the extent that I'm now one of the Volunteer team at the new Milton Keynes parkrun, which started last month . .

I'm pleased to say that I'm still managing to find races that would like me to come along . . but in addition to that I'm proud to have been invited to some . . such as the Whipsnade Zoo 10k in June, an established event in June which I took part in last year . . and the brand new Shiplake Scramble, and exciting 10k multi terrain event that takes place partly along the bank of the River Thames in Oxfordshire in May . .

I keep fiddling with my website, and changed the appearance of the front page slightly last night. Except that it didn't work . . so I've fixed it this morning!

That's enough for now . . here's one of my favourite photos of recent months . . synchronised downhill running at the Box Hill Fell Race, on a dull (but snow free) Saturday in January . .

Nice work if you can find it . .

2009-08-25T21:23:00.000+01:00

Well that was last Sunday when I turned up at the Burnham Beeches ½ Marathon and asked the Race Director if anybody was taking photos, and as they weren't, could I? And the RD he say Yep!

So I did . . 45 minutes sat on a grass verge opposite a nice looking country pub, and then about 90 minutes laid on the grass in the corner of a sports field in the grounds of Caldicott School in Buckinghamshire . . and very nice it was too, in the sunshine, watching all those runners go by . .

And either side of the photography, some time spent with some lovely friends . . Great Day :-)

I realise I've said something similar to this before, but where does the time go? Can't believe it's been so long since I last blogged here! Things have been good . . I've been to three races - the Harlow 10, the Bearbrook 10k, and now the Burnham Beeches ½, and had official blessing from the race organiser to take photos. Usually a little further in advance than an hour or so before the event starts!

I've written to 4 more races asking to go along and take photos, 2 have replied and are considering, two haven't replied. I'll probably just go along anyway, and if it's obvious that nobody is taking photos, I'll carry on . . and I've the Dunstable Downs Challenge and the Ridgway Run ahead of me, where in both cases I'm definitely t'Official Photographer :-)

Can't complain about not hearing from running clubs when their websites are usually run by volunteers in their spare time . .

Interest has been promising from the 3 races to date, and I'm pleased with the number of sales I've had so far given that I've had hardly any publicity . . all the more reason to use this blog of course - anything to help people find out about me and my photographs . .

So to pick up from my last blog, yes, I've found out how to cut down much of the work I used to have to do to get mmy photos online. There's still plenty to do of course, and on each occasion I learn more about how to streamline it all even more . .

That's enough for now . . here's my tribute to Yorkshire Day . . which was August 1st btw . .

Another week passes with no blog!

2009-07-09T23:17:00.000+01:00

And that just won't do!!

So last weekend I was at 2 races. First I lugged my compact camera down the Birmingham Canal between Wolverhampton and Birmingham, as I took part in the Birmingham Black Country Half Marathon

Then on Sunday I photographed the Princes Risborough Festival 10k, and had a lovely morning because Kim and Gill, 2 of my clubmates, came along and supported too . .

Have to say I got some great photos of that race, and was thrilled that the organising club (Vale of Aylesbury AC) posted a link to them from their front page the following morning :-)

I'm running again this weekend, the Northumberland Coastal Run on Sunday, and will be carrying my compact with me en route of course . .

Next Wednesday I'll be at the Waddesden 5k, a local race for me, that start and finishes in front of the Rothschild's place. Should get some nice photos if the weather's good . .

I've inked in 2 more parkruns, Bushey on 25 July, and Richmond on 1 August . . and I'm looking for races to photograph on the 19th and 26th of this month too . .

Finally, in a technocological breakthrough of epic proportions, I believe I've worked out how to remove most of the hard graft and repetition from the process of building the race pages of my website every time I post new photos . . watch this space for more!!

Will report back after Northumberland . .

Need to Catch Up

2009-07-02T07:40:00.000+01:00

Morning!!

Where have the last two weeks gone? Apologies for my absence, and welcome to July!

June ended with taking way too many photos at the local Thame 10k. It's a popular race that attracts almost 1,000 entries each year, and in good weather it's a pb course. This time however it was run in extremely hot and humid conditions, and people were dropping left, right and centre, to the extent that there weren't enough first aiders to go round at the finish! I should add that the provison of first aid would have been more than adequate in normal conditions but the 28th of June was far from normal. Hopefully all have made a swift recovery and are back running again.

Too many photos? Well yes, from my point of view, as I didn't have the following day off work to do the processing and add them to my site. Nevertheless, I managed to post 700 photos by yesterday morning. For the first time I've used much lower resolution and a watermark, and frankly I don't like them all that much but needs must. If I'm to sell any, then I mustn't make the downloadable ones too appealing! I may have gone a little too far with the low resolution though.

So it was a relief when I realised that I could show the photos of my Tring Running Clubmates in a higher resolution as a sort of shop window, to demonstrate the quality of the other photos.

One race Ihaven't recorded is the Marston Forest 5k, on Friday 19th. I found a nice spot by the 4k marker, sat down and leant against a tree, and got some great shots, especially of the leaders approaching me . .

I mailed the race secretary about my photos and they've added a massive link to my site which looks great (check this out) which is almost embarrassing as they seem to have overlooked the official photographer. But only almost . .

Right . . I'm running in a race on Saturday, that'll make a nice change. It's the Birmingham & Black Country ½ Marathon, a pleasant amble down the canal from Wolverhampton to Birmingham, and I'm looking forward to it.

Back behind the camera on Sunday of course, at the Princes Risborough 10k, but I'll try and blog again before then . .

Tring Midsummer Fun Run

2009-06-18T23:41:00.000+01:00

I passed a pleasant evening in Tring last night, as my club staged the 9th Midsummer Fun Run. The evening consists of running races for children of all ages around the cricket fields, and there is great competition between the children of Tring's schools . .

Once the 487 children and teenagers had completed their laps and received their medals, the event concluded with a race along local roads and canal tow path of about 6k, which this year attracted a field of 240 runners. The evening is run in conjunction with Iain Rennie Hospice at Home, and many of the runners will have raised sponsorship for the charity by running their race. All profits from the evening also go to this very worthwhile local charity . .

I've now got many of the photos online at www.theracephotographer.com (where else!!) but those of the runners completing the main race will have to wait . .

Discovered a flaw in one cunning plan, which is to display photos in race number order, so that I can label pages accordingly and visitors can find themselves with relative ease. But I can't read the race numbers after I've created the thumbnails . . so I need to do that job the other way round!!

But that's why I'm taking loads of photos just now, to learn stuff like that before I go commercial!!

And the reason the photos from last night need to wait a little while is because tomorrow evening I'm off to the Marston Vale 5k, another flat fast race with about 400 hundred runners, so let's hope for a sunny evening!!

That's all for now . . more at the weekend . .

tsk . . I forgot to mention . .

2009-06-16T22:27:00.001+01:00

that the photos I took on Saturday at Basingstoke are here

had fun taking them, especially as for once I sat down, which meant that (a) I didn't get tired and (b) I got my photos from a different angle . . at 6'5" I'm usually looking down on people, especially when I take my step ladder with me!!

and they're good photos too :-)

meanwhile I've gone beta after all (look south for explanation) . . and here's the beta index of my website . .

basically I've applied the mascara . . so less is more . . not everything works but the important stuff does . . and I'd be interested to know what you think :-)

the new phone is good too and I've twittered and facebooked whilst walking to work . . can it get any better? ;-)

till the next time . .

edit . . can't be bothered with this beta business . . but was bothered that my existing home page (the pre-mascara draft if you like) was too awful to keep up there when I had an alternative to hand . . so the mascara is live!!

goodnight :-)

progress is slow . . but steady . .

2009-06-12T21:24:00.000+01:00

this evening I've updated my regular front page . . I was thinking of going *beta* but no need yet, I'll only have to do that when I'm trying out my merchandise pages . .

and I figured that the sooner I get the new look up there for you to look at the better, then I'll get more feedback, which is a Good Thing!!!

don't forget, it's all at www.theracephotographer.com

also today I got myself (or will, once it's delivered) a new mobile . . out goes the Sony Ericsson whatever it is with t-mobile at £30/month!! how did I get into that contract? in comes the Nokia E63 with unlimited texts, unlimited internet and unlimited e-mail and free Skype to Skype (ok, so only 75 mins talk time a month but I rarely call from it). all for £15/month. Nice :-)

it's an ugly son of a gun with a full qwerty (keyboard) but it'll help me keep in touch with my website and monitor any sales as and when they come in . . and twitter :-)

off to Basingstoke parkrun in the morning, so early start for me . . good night each!!

and now it can be told . .

2009-06-11T19:35:00.000+01:00

that I have a new domain name . . henceforth, RichK is . .

www.theracephotographer.com

which is kind've exciting, to say the least!!!! well, it is to me anyway!!

of course the new address only takes you to the old place, which doesn't look much different just now, but it will, you'll see. I'm working hard to make the site slicker, looking at not using frames and so forth so that pages can be bookmarked and linked to . .

it's all great fun . . never dreamt way back in Dublin in 2002 when I took my first running photos that I'd end up going where I'm going now . .

this weekend I'll be at the Basingstoke parkrun on Saturday morning, taking more photos and presenting them in my "race reportage" format in the same way as I displayed my photos from Amager Fælled and Morden Hall . .

the adventure continues . .

in the beginning . .

2009-06-09T22:59:00.000+01:00

I started taking photos at running races, during races, and then of races in 2002 at the Dublin Marathon.

Since then my website www.richk.co.uk has expanded and developed beyond my wildest expectations or imaginings.

The purchase earlier this year of a Pentax Digital SLR camera has opened new horizons to me and I'm about to take race photos on a commercial basis. Not instead of my day job, but to help me pay for that next long or wide lens.

So my website needs to develop and I've been working on that for a while now, behind the scenes, as well as going to lots of races and honing my photography skills whilst getting used to the camera. Previously I've used compact digital camera, and have always got good results, but now with my DSLR I'm taking the sort of photo I never dreamt of!!

Thanks to my nephew Tim in Melbourne, I've found www.graphic-design.com and www.uxbooth.com and thanks to my own efforts I've found www.colorcombos.com, after I came to realise that just using the colours of my home town football team probably wasn't good enough! Not that there's anything wrong with Hull City's colours of black and amber, of course!!

Thanks also to RachE for a particularly good idea, and yes, the url's are bought but until they're working I'll keep quiet!

Thanks to Rob, aka fatface, for one spectacularly good idea, which as with all the best ideas only became blindingly obvious after he had thunked it!!

Finally thanks to all of you out there who have encouraged me (Ant Bliss and Jonathan S have been particularly generous in their encouragement) because without your belief, I wouldn't have believed in myself and set off along this exciting path . .

I have two local races lined up where I will be taking photos which will be for sale, and I've my eye on a another local race before these two which I will be using as a dry run to make sure the systems I'm currently working on function as planned . .

This blog, at least initially, is intended only to be about my photography . . more news to follow as it breaks . .