Its was Sunday morning and I had nothing do with my time; fortunately for me several thousand of people did had something to do…. RUN!
It’s the biggest half marathon in the world and its on my doorstep; so with nothing better to do on a Sunday I thought I would head down to the start line and see what photos I could get. I’m not going to lie I didn’t think I would get any photos was worth showing people but once their the atmosphere kept me there.
First it was to see the people heading toward the start line. This picture set the mood for the day for me. Normally people want to do nothing but move out the way when you point a camera at them, however the friendly atmosphere everywhere seem to put have put people at ease. There were a lot of faces with a real look of panic and worry but 95% of the people I seen on the way to the starting line were laughing and smiling like they were on their way to see an old friend.
Next to see people walking down to the start before to gun fired. Other than there being the largest collection of men pissing in bushes I have ever seen, it was nothing more than a mass of people all doing there last minute preparation before starting the race. I did find Banana Man with a worried look on his face and I couldn’t help but think it was worry about how he would hold up wearing the outfit he had on.
After not being able to take any photos for a but due to being bang in the middle of a sales at Primark and fear of people pissing on my bike I had to move on. Off the new Northumbria University footbridge; almost as soon as I got there the celebrity bus of death headed passed on its way, directly to the finish line.
I then got a shot of the first wheelchair athlete whizzing passed at some serious speeds.
I decided to head to the Tyne Bridge to see the masses. The atmosphere on the bridge was electric. Everybody cheering on the determination of each and every runner and it was contagious. Every time a runner waved of shouted the spectators went crazy. It wasn’t till I seen a man in a very small thong run passed followed by a group of women running directly behind he that I started to think about heading home.
No sooner had I start putting away my camera to head home; the roar the engines hit the bridge like an explosion. They were so quick that I almost missed the shot. On the second fly by however I was lined up and ready to shoot. The feeling for the people running across the bridge as the Red Arrows flew overhead must have been a great adrenalin rush.
If any of you took part in the race I would love to hear about it in the comments below.
You can also check out my photos on Flickr HERE.
I took part in my first Great North Run this year along with the other 51,499 🙂 I managed to complete the course in 2:15:10. Had hit the halfway mark at 1:02 and I reckon if I’d not picked up a stinking cold a few weeks ago I might have gone sub 2 hours. But nonetheless I’m very happy to have completed it and have raised a good chunk of money for Guide Dogs for the Blind in the process. Thats that challenge done, now to pick the next… 🙂
Nice one Andrew. I’ve been thinking about doing it next year it looked like loads of fun….
That’s me saying I’ve been thinking about it in a none committal way you understand.
Well done on raising the money dude.
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