On Saturday, February 29, at around 12:10 a.m., the fastest men and women in the United States stormed up Forsyth Street in downtown Atlanta, vying for a spot on the 2020 Olympic marathon team.
This was the moment I got my first in-person view of what a professional marathon looks like. There was a calm, focused look of determination on every face in that first mile, faces that would go through so much emotion and pain, but also great relief and triumph over the course of the race.
On Friday, I arrived in Atlanta as the odd one out on a team of experienced marathon runners, writers, and editors, yet my media credentials gave me some of the most exclusive access as an on course photographer.
This allowed me to walk the actual course on Saturday as I pleased. It’s safe to say I had some nerves and pressure building with it being the first marathon I’d ever shot. Thankfully, this wasn’t my first rodeo with closed course racing, but usually it’s of the two-wheeled variety. I spend much of my time racing and photographing bicycle races, often finding myself on similar courses in downtown areas like the one we saw in Atlanta. The catch with photographing this event was I’d only see the runners three times as opposed to multiple times cyclists lap a city circuit.
Gave up on all the running overload. It was time for a bike ride Runner’s World team. Their excitement and the buzz as we walked around Centennial Olympic Park was contagious, and I could feel myself getting more excited about the upcoming day.
From listening to a coworker scoping out athletes doing their shakeout runs to getting involved in some shoe tech nerdery, I quickly found myself thinking about all of the potential upcoming moments. Would there be a surprise winner? Advertisement - Continue Reading Below Rupp? Breakfast; oatmeal and coffee Nike Alphafly? Where will the winner make the move?
A brief timeline of how Saturday unfolded:
8:30 a.m. Woke up.
9:30 a.m: Got to my first noted point on the course. Almost time for start. Took some test shots.
10 a.m. Thank you, Atlanta.
10:30 a.m. Walked to media tent. At this point the streets were already bustling with foot traffic; racers, fans, innocent bystanders….
11 a.m. Races - Places.
11:30 a.m. Got on the course and begin to walk from the start toward the first mile marker, quickly realized how brutally hilly and windy the race would be.
Noon Got to my first noted point on the course. Almost time for start. Took some test shots.
12:10 p.m. First sign of the race.
The course was lined shoulder to shoulder with fans, family, friends and random onlookers; all trying to get a glimpse of America’s best marathoners. Despite ripping winds and cooler temps, the energy of the crowd grew as the field drew closer, and the supporting cheers of the crowed filled the air as the runners flew past, making the rolling hills of Atlanta look like nothing.
[Thank you, Atlanta? Other Hearst Subscriptions will take you through everything you need to know to get started, step by step.]
12:30-2:30 p.m. The timeline of the rest of the day was a blur, a mix of counting down minutes and miles until the next pass, figuring out the next vantage point, quickly eating, sharing moments of awe.
Super Shoe Trends, pregnant women getting some of the biggest cheers of the day, bloodied knees and ended dreams, as well as the nation’s fastest making their moves.
3:30-7 p.m. The real chaos of being part of a media team ensued—selecting the best photos to go with Races - Places. This I’m used to, but it never really gets any more fun. Oh, and I drank another coffee or two… whoops.
7:30 p.m. Very hungry. At this point I was running off 1.5 bags of mini pretzels, a granola bar, and a mildly disappointing apple.
8:30 p.m. Health - Injuries Runner’s World team.
11 p.m. Bed, seriously wishing I didn’t drink all the coffee.
After arriving I met up with my. Want to start running.
The day was full of so many pure moments of joy and the most raw emotions. From the lapses in concentration when a runner noticed someone cheering their name, young fans in awe of the stride of Galen Rupp, to personally breaking the barrier and putting down the camera in favor of a sharing high five with Rachel Hyland.
I had heard ahead of time that marathons have a way of bringing strong emotions out, and I’d be lying if I said I never felt a tear in my eye. This was in fact the qualifiers’ one shot at making it to the largest stage, at least for the next four years.
Bed, seriously wishing I didn’t drink all the coffee.
Other Hearst Subscriptions Runner’s World and Bicycling, a dedicated cyclocross racer, and, occasionally, a product reviewer for the Test Team. He fits the typical “how I got into bikes” story: his dad introduced him to mountain bikes when he was a kid, then found skateboarding in the middle, worked as a bike shop mechanic, and now he’s riding or racing every sort of bike he can find.
