I recently ran the Edmonton half marathon for what was probably the tenth time (and my worst showing thanks to an injury-filled summer of training and racing) but I did manage to take a few solid shots of the start line and the course.
I’m not gonna be published in a magazine any time soon, but a few action shots of the in progress race from a runners perspective was (in my opinion) worth lugging my phone in hand and popping open the camera a few times.
But I had almost brought a better camera. I had stood there as I was getting ready for my run that morning, holding my GoPro in my hand and overthinking it.
I left it at home.
I would not have been alone, though. I saw more than a few guys—always guys—carrying their action cams out in front of them as they ran the course that morning. Like me, they are probably not compelled by some urge to create content for social media or make bullshit running content online, but rather are driven by a insatiable confluence of hobbies to take interesting photos or footage of their lives as they live them. These were not influencers—I saw a couple of those too—but rather shaky video guys, nerdy blokes with tech, documenting their latest adventure.
And I’m hardly one to suggest this is bad thing. I do it. Jeeze, do I ever do it. I only left the GoPro at home because I started pondering just how much I realistically wanted to carry through a race given how I was feeling about my health status as the looming heat of the day.
But being the dude with the GoPro in a serious race does mark you out. Are you a runner or a photographer lost on marathon course? Are you a racer—or a tourist?
I wouldn’t change my penchant for photography in these situations, but sometimes I do need to ponder what I must look like trotting along while pointing even a phone camera lens out ahead of me, snapping pics and shifting my focus in those moments I should be enjoying the moment and not the opportunity.Â
Definitions
- advice
- This is NOT an advice site. I write for entertainment only. Please see my note on advice in my page called "Some Notes" in the menu at the top of each page.
- august
- In the month of August where I live summer peaks and the days are often relatively hot (in the high 20s or low 30s) muggy, smokey and dry. Rain is infrequent, but when it arrives it comes in the form of drenching downpours and epic thunderstorms. We begin our runs earlier in the day because the local marathon runs late in the month and our training distances are maxing.
- influencer
- Don't be an influencer who runs, be a runner who influences... Be someone who challenges others to be their best healthy self and to rest when they need it. Be someone who encourages others to be inclusive to the sport, builds a strong community, champions good sportsmanship and stands cheering for everyone. Share pics, stats, and courage... for the right reasons.
- october
- Fully into autumn, October is a month of shifting seasons, short days, long shadows, and gorgeous sunsets. The cobwebs are hung on the eaves in preparation for halloween, and here in Canada we're running off Thanksgiving dinner for a couple weeks after a proper good meal mid-month.
- race
- You train and train and train some more, and then for no clear reason you pay a bunch of money to run as fast as you possibly can at a very specific time with a bunch of strangers along a course lined with more strangers (or along paths lined with trees if you are an ultra runner) at the end of which you are handed a medal and a banana and a sense of achievement unlike anything you will feel again (until you sign up for your next one.)
- september
- The days are noticeably shorter when we realize that September is upon us. The post-summer routine kicks in and people are back to regular work schedules and kids are back in school. It can still be warm, but the hottest days are behind us and most of the biggest races of the year are in the rear view. We savour September knowing winter is too soon to come.
