Catching up . . again . .

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

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

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

changes afoot . .

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

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 . .

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 . .

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 . .