For the third year in a row, I was assigned to photograph the annual Sunburst Races in South Bend. The Sunburst Races are South Bend’s marathon, half marathon, 10K and 5K races, which draw thousands of people to our city each year. It’s a fun assignment because there are thousands of moments to be had. That said, it’s quite a grind of a day. The marathon starts at 6 a.m. meaning I usually wake up at 4:45 a.m. to get to the starting line by no later than 5:30 a.m. In my experience shooting the races, I’ve always been the sole shooter. This puts a lot of pressure on me to shoot a variety of features and action all the while getting the winners of the races for our sports section. I really got sick of shooting similar photos at the start and finish lines the last couple years so I decided to try something different. This year I ditched my car, grabbed a couple of easy-to-carry lenses (Canon 135 mm f/2 and 35 f/1.4) and rode my bike along the course. This allowed me to shoot a bit of the action along the course itself, but kept me from getting stuck at a race roadblock in a car.
Sarah Ingle says
Just want to say thanks for capturing this moment for me. It was my first Boston Qualifying time. I broke down around mile 24 due to the hills in the last section of the course and up until that moment, I was running the pace I needed. I had to briefly stop just to get my legs back. The last mile I was dying to finish and pushed as hard as I could. I finally saw the finish line and looked up and saw the time 3:39:06. I needed 3:40 to qualify for Boston. I yelled out in elation. You captured the moment awesomely and I’m so glad to have the photo. I ran that race in memory of my Aunt Patty Callahan and Steve “Steve-o” Smith, both of whom lost their battles with brain cancer. Thank you again.
James Brosher says
Thanks for sharing your story. Glad I was able to capture your big moment!