Week 41, Day 288, February 7, 2010, Photos tell a Story

Many of you may know that I'm a runner.  I've been running for about 15 years.  It started as a New Year's resolution.  I have a desk job.  I was getting out of shape and needed to do something.  I ran for a few years by myself, but started running with others.  Before I knew it I was running races.

Wow, what an incredible sport running is.  Almost everyplace that you go there are some types of races available to run.  There are a couple of things that I have noticed at most races.

The first is the incredible support runners give each other.  There is competition, but at the end of most races competitors turn shake each others hands, and thank the opponent for pushing them to do their best.  The other end of the spectrum is people who are either starting, or just are near the end of the race.  People on the sidelines yell support for every runner.

The next thing I noticed is described in this photo.  Racing is very inter-generational.  Young people compete right next to us old timers, and build common bonds.  Many of the people that I train with are National Class runners, but they are much older than I am.  In speed workouts, I cannot keep up with them. 

Today I took about 3000 photographs at the Fingerlakes Runners Club monthly track meet.  Over 140 people competed from ages 3-80, and they had a ball.  It was a pleasure photographing them.

Lessons Learned:

• The AF button on my camera came in very handy.  During the starts I wanted to use a One Shot Auto Focus, but during the race I wanted to use a Servo Auto Focus.  The AF button went directly to that section of the menu, so I could easily switch during a race.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/400 sec, Aperture f/2.8, ISO 3200, Focal Length 180 mm, Lens Canon 70-200mm f2.8L USM, handheld.