A little run in the desert

I don't run anymore. I dream about running, though, and I am always flying along - long strides that cover massive territory and it is effortless and smooth and exhilarating! When I'm awake, though, I've done enough damage to my knees and ankles over the years that if I try to run more than 30 yards I'm gonna be in big trouble trying to walk the next day.

So last week when a friend at work - a crazy barefoot runner - asked me Wednesday afternoon (our Friday!) if I wanted to come take pictures of a race his running club was having that afternoon, I was hesitant for two reasons. First, I don't have my gear with me, and I knew my travel camera couldn't deliver what I'd want to get. Second, see the first paragraph above - if I can't run I don't enjoy being around people who are.

But Ron said please because they'd never had any good pictures made, and offered the use of his camera (Canon 5D) and all his lenses, and I didn't have any Skype dates with home set, so I told him I could come by.  I showed up at the designated spot a little early to check the layout, which by the way used to be a golf course. If you look at the shot below they are running on what was the cart path alongside a sand fairway! Talk about a hardscrabble course!

I found Ron and he showed me his bag with a solid camera and some great lenses.  I've shot maybe a dozen pix before with a 5D, but it is very similar to the other Canons I've had, so no big problem making it work. The biggest problem is, with digital cameras of that vintage, the view screen on the back is small and dark. No matter what adjustments I made I couldn't discern any difference in exposure, so I made my best guess and shot away.

 I wanted to get as many different things as I could, but didn't have a lot of time. This was a 4K race, with two circuits around this and another ancient golf hole, and the runners starting at intervals. I wanted to get some action shots, and just couldn't get what I wanted from one spot, so I went to the bottom of the straight stretch and then sprinted up the hill with each set of runners to come along

I think I actually did pretty well, for a camera and lens set I'd never picked up before, and had to guess at the settings. There's a different set of these on my Facebook page if you want to see more. Ron put dozens on the running group's FB page (straight out of the camera) and got hundreds of likes, but apparently you must be invited by the Lord Himself to see that site, so I didn't get to see any of them for several days till I made it over to his house to copy them.

 And the biggest surprise was that I didn't hurt anywhere after all this. This was literally the most I've run at one time in years, and it felt pretty good. Probably because I wasn't thinking about running, but about my position relative to the runner, the height and angle to hold the camera, not getting in the runner's way, making sure I wasn't running off into the brush and rocks, etc. If I'd been thinking about running, I would only have been thinking that my legs were gonna start hurting any second.

Ron said I should join the group and I honestly had to laugh. I know I must've been a sight, giant round man stumbling up that hill with a camera in his hand, but the coach commented on Ron's facebook post about the fantastic pictures, and wondered if his friend wouldn't mind coming back for the next two events. We'll see!