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A photo missed (Part 2 of 3) |
(Editor’s note: This is the second in a three-part series).
After a chilly night near Lyon Ridge, we were positioned along the trail to shoot video and take still pictures early Saturday morning. Others of our crew (Bridget Powers, Monti Reynolds and Kathleen Sailor) set out to tackle about 5.5 miles of the course to get footage and photos in the midst of the runners. As I mentioned last week, runner #240, Jim Jones, was someone we were keeping an eye on since we had met him at the Bar of America in Truckee the night before. Jones indeed remembered our group as he ran by, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
Western States Endurance runner Jim Jones, left, and his brother Alan, relaxed at the Bar of America in Truckee the afternoon before the race. The brothers are from Alberta, Canada.
Bob Richardson and Harvey Roper hiked further up the hill that morning
while I waited patiently on the trail, surrounded by tall pine trees.
Birds singing and the rustling of leaves were the only sounds in the
forest, until I heard faint steady rhythmic footfalls in the distance.
By the time I grabbed the video camera, removed the lens cap and turned
the darn thing on, I was just barely able to film him as he ran by, but
I hadn’t had time to get a good photo with my regular camera. The
runner was Hal Koerner of Ashland, Oregon, and he commanded a serious
lead. The other runners were at least 10 minutes behind at that early
stage of the race. I wondered how he’d fare farther into the course.
As more racers went by, I repositioned myself to get a better angle. I
found footing on some rocks beside the trail, giving me a nice shot
looking down on the racers as they passed my location. As they ran,
some sang songs, some waved and some shouted “g’day” (must’ve been
Aussies).
I met up with Harvey and Bob and we loaded up in the Jeeps. Heading to
Red Star Ridge the long way around (by car), we were going to pick up
our intrepid hiking team. Bumpy, rock-strewn roads, dust and a fussy
video camera charger were just a few of the challenges we faced on our
hour-plus drive.
Pulling into Red Star, we were toward the end of the racers. Koerner
had already blown through this area but I was confident I’d snap his
photo later in the race.
I filmed a runner with a nasty blister on her heel as she was bandaged
up at the aid station. Another athlete attempted to leave the area with
only one full water bottle and was quickly stopped and forced to refill.
We asked about our teammates, yet no one had seen them. We waited, took
some more photos and video footage, cracked open some Gatorade to keep
ourselves hydrated, and just about the time I started to worry, we saw
familiar faces through the trees. Bridget, Monti and Kathleen were safe
and making their way to the station.
To be continued next week.
Part 1 | Part 3
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