I had the rare chance to spend most of the day at an ultramarathon trail race without running a step.  My first priority was to be there in support of my good friend and Leadville pacer, Stu.  He was running his 3rd 50 miler and looked to be all set for his best race yet.  Unfortunately, a series of unforeseen foot problems that got pretty bad during the 3rd lap resulted in a missed cutoff.  Very proud of his effort, though!

I brought the camera along and rode my bike so I could hit different parts of the course and practice taking some shots.  You would think that being a trail runner/racer, and wanna-be photographer, I would have shot dozens of races by now.  This was the first, and I really enjoyed it!  With the slower nature of trail and ultra running, there was time for a lot of banter back and forth with the runners which was a lot of fun.  Most of them would make some sort of wisecrack, and I’d shoot one right back at them.

I tried to give the shots a different look and perspective from the typical race photos.  Instead of just firing the shutter, I’d wait to see the eyes, or the flash of a smile.  Even a grimace or a look of determination was fair game.  I think it worked out pretty well.

My brain didn’t know what to make of being at a race all day and not having sore legs to show for it.  When I stopped at the gas station on the way home, I totally braced myself as I was getting out of the car – then I realized I hadn’t been running!

Here are a few samples from my first round of editing.  A link to the flickr set is at the end of the post.  I will be adding more to that set in the next few days.

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See the rest here.