Yesterday I had the honor of working with a team of Statesman photo staffers to cover the Statesman Capitol 10,000 race.
It’s the largest 10k in the state, and I was assigned to shoot the start and the finish. There was a photographer (Ricardo B. Brazziell) in the back of the pace car, another (editor Jay Godwin) at the capitol, another at a water stop, a photographer (Alberto Martinez) in a helicopter and a videographer along the route as well. It was a well-covered race.
The start time was 8 a.m., so I got there about 7 a.m. to find my way to the front of the pack. I shot a few features along the way of people stretching, but mostly I just needed to get my barrings, as this was my first time to shoot the annual race.
The wheelchair race was supposed to start at 7:30 a.m., but there was only one racer ready to go. They delayed the start a few minutes, but eventually let David Reeves make his way down Congress ahead of the runners.
Another wheelchair racer came late and started just before the runners.
As the running start approached, I got in position to get that shot of everyone running across the line together. I got a little bit of grief from race officials because they didn’t want me to stand in the middle of the street with over 17,000 people running towards me.
After explaining that I was working for the Statesman and that they got that shot every year, and with some back up from Ricardo, we convinced them to let me stand where I needed to be.
Photographers, especially sports photographers, know when to get out of the danger zone. We have athletes running toward us all the time. We know how to get the shot we need and get the heck out of the way. That being said, Ricardo, who was in the pace car behind me at the start of the race, took a photo of me shooting the start. After seeing that photo, and seeing how small I look and how many runners were actually racing towards me, I can see how it might look a little dangerous to onlookers.
Anyway, I positioned myself at the start and framed up the traditional, symmetrical shot with an 80-200mm at f4. I thought about shooting closer with a wide angle, but the background didn’t look as good in the test shots.
The shot that ran on page 1 today above the masthead was the photo at the top of the post.
From there I just tried to single out runners as they passed.
After about 10 min., it was time for me to make my way to the finish line. Only about half of the runners had crossed the start line, but if I didn’t get walking, I would have missed the men’s winner.
At the finish line, I set up my shot and before I knew it, the announcer proclaimed that the men’s leader was just around the corner. I saw the pace car and Ricardo, and a minute or two later came men’s winner Eric Chirchir. He finished with a record time of 29:24.
A few more men came through and then the women’s leader came racing through. Betzy Jimenez crosses the finish line with a time of 35:27.
My assignment obligations had been fulfilled at that point, but I stuck around for a little while to see if I could get a few features.
The crowd wasn’t terribly large or excited, so I decided to head back, knowing that the powers that be would want to get the winners ASAP!
Click here to view many more photos from the Statesman’s photo team.
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