A couple of shots captured from @les_saisies at sunset last week. On the first the mighty Pierra Menta standing proud over the ridge line.
#pierramenta #landscapephotography #sunset #thedreamersplace #sunsetphotography #photopills #moutain #beaufort #myauvergnerhonealpes @le_beaufortain@arechesbeaufort #savoie #hautesavoie @alphauniversebysony.eu@sonyalpha #sonywinter #sonyshooter #sonyalpha
I had two reasons to sign up for the Arc of Attrition:
- first I’ve been told many times that although difficult it was an amazing race.
It didn’t disappoint, the view during the day are just stunning, and the sound of the see crashing on the coast at night is kind of magical.
- second I wanted to get my WSER ballot qualifier early so I could focus on other types of events this year.
Signing up for a race that some year get a 50% DNF race was a bit of a bet for point n°2 but at the end it worked out.
I put a lot of efforts in this training, getting back to proper strengthening, thanks @ea.method for your work on that as it made a massive difference. I had my biggest training block over Christmas and New Years Eve which wasn’t ideal socially speaking… I trained myself to eat better while running as I’ve always been in huge calorie deficit on races, barely eating.
All came together quite well and I’m sure with better ground conditions I could have push toward that sub 24h black belt buckle but storm Eowyn decided otherwise.
I happy with my 26h31 finish, especially considering the state of my feet (I’ll think twice before using a waterproof shoes again). In many way I found that race harder than my two TDS, the relentless up and down is leg shattering and I between it’s can be very runnable or completely unrunnable, you’ve got sand dunes, a road section that felt like it was going on for ever, a likelihood of fails of wind and rain hitting your face… 26h and change of pure joy.
I always find if funny how I never regretted being out there even in those moments, I want them to pass by fast but I’ve yet to find a race where I tell myself WTF am I doing here.
Thanks @willhp.studio for the amazing pictures, I’m a big fan of your work and it always inspires me as a photographer 🙏
#ultras
#arcofattrition
#southwestcoastpath
#running
#ultratrail
#landsend
The Bob Graham Round has been on my list since I started looking at ultra-running. It is one of the reasons I wanted to get into that sport, reading about it, listening to podcasts, watching videos…the whole thing just seemed like something I wanted to experience. Although it is a personal challenge, the round relies on the running community as you need a witness with you at every summit.
My team of pacers (in leg order) Joe, Phil, Darius & Liam have been fantastic and Judith and Sam completing the crew did an amazing job. I can’t thank all of you enough 🙏
Most of those attempting the round have studied it thoroughly, read about its history, about all the fell running legends who ran the loop since Bob Graham did in 1932. I am sure that everyone who went around this weekend had a thought for Joss Nailor, who sadly passed away before the weekend. He was one of the legends who ran along the fells and inspired so many others to do so.
I could go on for hours about the experience I had over my 22 hours on the fells but I’d rather do that around a drink with whomever wants to hear more 😅
Thanks again to my crew and pacers 🙏🙏🙏 and to everyone who sent messages around to help me find help.
#bobgraham
#bobgrahamround
#fellrunning
#ultrarunning
#lakedistrict
When shooting for @centurionrunning I’ll see a couple of runners a couple of times a year, especially those running the Slam 50 or 100. But there is rarely a runner I’ll see at every single race.
I missed shooting in one race this year because I was signed up for another race. Jade surely did not miss it.
It’s quite a feat to run the 100-mile Grand Slam, add to that the 50-mile Slam, and you’ve got quite a year! Jade has pushed it one step further and ran the Winter Down 200 on top. Oh, and if this wasn’t enough, she also ran Hundred Hills, the 50km season opener… Such an impressive year.
One thing that struck me was that I couldn’t remember seeing Jade without a smile on her face; surely enough, she always seems happy in every picture I got throughout the year!
Thanks for the inspiration, and massive well done to her for completing every single race of the Centurion calendar!
#ultrarunning
#trailrunning
#womenrunning
I haven’t been very active on Instagram this year, so I thought I should try to make a couple of posts with some of the photos I took at Winter Downs 200 and share a few of the stories captured this year.
I’ll start with a series of photos covering the race from start to finish, along with my personal journey shooting at such an event.
To start with, let me say that it’s not easy to shoot a 200-mile race. As much as I’d like to be there a handful of times for every runner, the reality is that the field spreads pretty fast and wide. After the first 20 miles, the gap between the front and the back of the field is already significant. By day two, there can be one, two, or even more hours in between single participants.
So, although there is a plan at the start, as for many runners in an ultra, it can go out of the window rather quickly. Then it’s an optimisation game: trying to find the next best location to shoot, figure out whether the runners will be there, and whether I’ll make it there on time...
Trying to find a good balance between shooting the front of the race while keeping an eye on everyone further back in the pack involves a bit of mental gymnastics. This becomes harder every day as the spread increases and the tiredness sets in for both the runners and me, making them less predictable and harder to catch.
But a couple of hundred miles behind the wheel, some short nights of sleep, and four to five thousand photos later, I’m happy with the outcome and the stories we managed to deliver, as close as we can be to live, on a course where finding enough network to upload photos edited on my phone in between two drives can be a bit a of a pickle.
Now that all the proper edits are out there, and I see them popping up on my Instagram feed, I can only be happy with the outcome.
#ultrarunning
#sportphotography
#northdownsway
#southdownsway
#winterdowns200
C2 ambassador @jenfletchtri was recently in Cyprus for @ifit and @further.run Pierre Papet captured these 2 beautiful shots we just can’t keep to ourselves. Enjoy.
It’s always good fun and good vibes to shoot for @maverickrace
I loved playing around the motor racing track that serve as a start and finish location. It’s gritty textures gives some interesting look.
#running #trails #trailrunning #theoutdoorawaits #maverick #mendips
Photo dump de ce petit séjour dans le Queyras
Photo 1
Seul au monde sur le premier relais du @traildesetoiles05
Photo 2
Quand @loujohadventure apprend qu’il n’y aura pas de bouteille de vin parmi les récompenses …
Photo 3
Quand tu as encore les yeux collés du réveil à 4h alors qu’il est 8h.
Photo 4
Une petite baignade dans le jacuzzi. Beaucoup trop chaud pour moi, sans parler des bulles qui piquent.
Photo 5
Quand tu photographies la photographe qui te photographie.
Photo 6
Des coucher de soleil de zinzin.
Photo 7
Des décors de zinzin.
Photo 8
Saint Véran plus haut village de tous les villages.
📸 @loujohadventure@pierre_barrot_photographies@further.run
Partenaires
@baouw.organic.nutrition@rifugio_dahu@chullanka_antibes
____
#trail #landscape #trailrunningcommunity #run #runners #running #runners #trailrunnersofinstagram #vajouerdehors #chullanka #baouwers #runningcommunity #sport #sportmotivation #mountain #hokaoneone
This is Robin alias @mr.samyjames .
When we met in London, he had just started running and quickly got into ultra running (perhaps too quickly, if you ask me, but who am I to judge? 😉). In short races, he can be fast and furious, but during longer races, he aims to be just as fast and furious. This approach has led to a few blow-ups during races, but he’s starting to figure it out.
After finishing the UTMB in 40 hours two years ago, he was determined to improve, and improve he did.
His weak point (aside from being a bit crazy and having some questionable pacing strategies 🤷♂️) is running at night. Anyone who was in Chamonix last week can attest to how challenging that night was—rain, snow, and even some hail awaited them from the start of the race!
At Col de la Seigne, he was in 465th place, far from his goal of breaking into the top 100. But as morning broke, the sky cleared, and he refused to give up.
That’s Robin’s strength: he never gives up. From there, he put the pedal to the floor and started gaining places. By early morning in Courmayeur, he had already moved up 100 spots, and he didn’t stop there!
Fast forward to Chamonix, he crossed the finish line in 130th place and under the 29 hours.
You can be proud of yourself, man! You raced well, and I’m sure you’ll be back to achieve your goals. It was great fun spending the week with you and your family in Chamonix! Let’s make it happen again!
Kudos to Anaik (Robin's sister) for following him around in buses, losing a night of sleep, crewing the little brother and making him stick to the plan 🙌.
#ultra #ultrarunning #trailrunning #utmb #chamonix #ultradistance #ultradistancerunning
What a race from @ruthcrofty taking the crown 👑
The crowd went nuts when she crossed Vallorcine.
Thanks @lesgenouxdanslegif for the party 🎉
#utmb
#ultrarunning
#trailrunning
From dusk till dawn and some…
The @centurionrunning@worldtrailmajors SDW100 in numbers from a photographer’s point of view:
- On-site on Friday, just in time for the Kids race at 5 pm
It’s a 4 am wake-up call on Saturday to grab some snaps of registration and pre-race tension building.
- Trying to get a picture of most of the first-wave runners on the upper loop of Matterley Bowl (while @the_phbalance is shooting the start of the race)
- Down to the start of the second wave
- Shooting the second wave at the end of the second bowl loop… by that time, I have about 2000 pictures taken for a field of 500-550 runners
- Driving to my first location on the trail to get as many pictures of the runners as I can, so hopefully, everyone can get at least one picture
- Driving to a second location to get some different points of view and continue covering as much of the field as possible
- We are now mid-day, and the spread at the front of the race between the men’s and women’s race is becoming too wide for Phil to cover, so we divide the task, and I jump on the front of the women’s race
- Driving to 3 more locations, parking questionably and hiking up hills with my photography kit
- The heading backwards on the course to try and get some nice images at sunset in Ditchling Beacon… sunset didn’t work out this time
- Then to the finish line and taking pictures of runners crossing and completing their 100-mile journey
- Around 1 am or so, my body starts to tell me to get some sleep after a short previous night and a full-on 20+ hour day driving and taking photos
- Up by 6 am and quickly back behind the lens to take finisher pictures until the last runner crosses the line, 8 minutes before the 12:30 pm cut-off
- Drive back home, backup all the photos, and finally go to bed for a proper night of sleep
Trying to meet all the briefs on a race at this scale is a tough job, low sleep and lots of pictures to go through (about 6500 for the whole weekend).
Are all the images amazing?
Certainly not, but I’m trying my best to get the best quality I can, and I love seeing some of the pictures popping up on Instagram and the kind words going with them.
