4/26/2011

Race photos 101 - How to work that silly face all the way to the finish line

Utrecht Marathon. 25 april 2011. Second marathon in two weeks time. 27 / 27 degrees Celsius (up in the 80's in Fahrenheit). Sunny sunny sunny. Late 10:30 AM start. It was hot. 3:59:55. Pr'ed by 10 minutes and 36 seconds. Came in 12th out of 46 in my Age Group (524 runners in total: not a lot of ladies out there!).

Aid stations: sucked. Badly organized. Fortunately, I have - hands down - the best mom in the world. She bike sherpa'd me to the finish line. Giving me all the water/gatorade and TLC a girl could possibly ask for.

In photos (all taken right before the finish line):


Those guys in the back. Chicked them. 500 meters before the finish line. Take that. From a girl. In a skirt.


Still checking my watch to make sure the 3:59 doesn't change to 4:00. :)


There it is. The silly face. Patent pending. :)


Nice form, missy. NOT!


And, there's the silly face again. The safari hat might look silly, but it was a true life saver in that heat and with that sun.


Crossed the finish line. Stop the Garmin! And it still says 3:59. Seconds later I was crying my eyes out on the shoulder of one of the volunteers. Embarrassing, at least...

15 comments:

Vanessa @ Gourmet Runner said...

Great photos!
Way to chick a bunch of guy right before the finish line!
:)

misszippy said...

Congrats! What a fantastic PR in such hot conditions!! And you look great in your pics.

Beth said...

Those pics are great! Love that you chicked some guys at the finish. Makes you feel good, right? :)

dawn @ running the dawn said...

i totally cried ON THE RACE DIRECTOR after my fall marathon. it was classy!

i love how you kept your eyes on your watch the entire time. exactly what i would have done :)

RunningRonald said...

You not only look great, you also did great: sub 4 hours in a tropical marathon. Well done Christel!!!

Jason said...

Great job in difficult conditions. 10 minute PR is totally bada**.....whoo!!!!

rinusrunning said...

Gefeliciteerd en top gedaan gezien de hitte.
Een mooie tijd onder de 4 uur en mooie actie foto's leuk rokje!.

Zaneta @ Runner's Luck said...

LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!! You seriously rock!! and I dont think those pics look silly at all! You were bookin it and they say so! :)

Bethany + Ryan said...

You look great!!! Wow, i bet it felt HOT!! I was super silly in my Boston race photos, i drew a heart on my arm and wrote Ryan's name inside with an arrow going threw it. WHenever i saw a photographer i pointed to the sharpie tattoo and puckered up, sending Ryan a kiss.

LaVonne said...

The hat looks sillier than the look on your face! :-) Tee hee, just giving you a hard time. Great job out there!

Shellyrm ~ just a country runner said...

Amazing job! That was hot! I'm not ready for the heat yet. I bet the hat really helped.

giraffy said...

You look GREAT!!! I totally cried on the massage table after the Princess half :D

Run Jess Run said...

Those are not bad pictures at all.

Karen Seal said...

Awesome job and I love the pictures...I don't think you're making a silly face! :0)

Unprofessional said...

LOVE THE PIICTURES! You look great!