Sharp Top 50k/25k for 2024 was shaping up to be a doozy well before the race even happened. The race directors and volunteers pulled out all the stops just to make sure this race could actually happen this year.

The race takes place in the forest surrounding the ghost town of Masten, PA. It is a very remote area. There are few roads in and out of the area and few races to take to get around the forest and out to the trails where the race happens. This year one of the major roads in the area was closed due to construction.

The road closure prevented staff and volunteers including medical personal from getting out onto the course in a timely manner from the central hub of the race start finish line. This made it much more challenging to supply aid stations and do all the necessary things that are needed during a race.

But our valiant RDs and Volunteers prevailed and the runners were able to hit the trials.

I have photographed this event for the past few years. Most of my photography has taken place at the same two locations during the past running. This year I was looking ot mix it up more and try to get out on the course and hit a few different locations over the course of the race. I wanted to provide a wider variety of photography to the runners, especially the ones who have done it multiple times. Some fresh photos would be nice.

However, this road closure impacted even you humble photographer. The road being closed meant I couldn’t get around the course in a timely manner to get the photos that I really wanted. The closure meant that it would even be difficult to get to the location where I have photographed the race from in the past.

New Plan

I developed a new plan. I decided to wait at the start finish line after the race began. Then when it started to get close to the time runners would be finishing the 25k I would hike up the trail runners would descend towards the finish. The idea was to capture images of runners at different points along the trail as we intersected.

This first part of the plan worked out pretty well. But, I did not encounter as many runners as I thought I would. But I did create some nice images of runners in different parts of the trials.

Part two of the plan was to find a good spot to just hang out and photograph the rest of the 25k runners as they made there way back towards the finish line.

I did eventually find a good spot to watch and photograph the runners as they emerged from the woods and continued along the trail. Apparently, after I had hiked up the trail over 2 miles uphill. Then I arrived at the point on the course where the 50k course reconnected with the 25k course so all runners finished along the same route.

This ended up being a really nice spot for photographs. I could stand and wait and watch as runners emerged from the woods. Then they would turn and follow an old logging road for a bit before turning back into the woods. This is a spot I could have driven to if I had expected to end up here. But you live and you learn.

Weather

The day was very dark and dreary. Foggy. Complete dens cloud cover. And there was rain in the forecast. Perhaps you can tell by the photos.

I thought if the weather was really bad I would just photograph from the start finish line where I could stay under cover part of the time. But the bad weather had been holding off and it had only been a 30% chance of rain last I checked the forecast. And as I mentioned this is a remote area and there is very little cell service to be found.

I took a jacket with my in case it rained lightly. A jacket but not a raincoat. A raincoat that I had tucked safely in a bag back at the start finish line two miles away. I was hoping it wouldn’t actually rain that hard.

As I photographed the 25k runners it sprinkled and rained on and off. Nothing too hard for a while. Then the weather turned. The rain became more intense. I found myself hiding under the tree canopy to stay out of the rain.

I was really hoping to stay where I was until at least some of the 50k runners started to run by my position. But the weather had other ideas. The rain started dropping in buckets. The canopy was no longer providing adequate shelter from the rain.

I decided it was time to retreat to the start finish line the way I had come. That meant descending a wet slippery trail while carrying all my camera gear. While also keeping an eye out for runners so I could both get out of their way and photograph them. Sounds simple enough.

I slowly made my way down the trail. Runners began to emerge from the surrounding storm. This was far from ideal weather for photography, especially for getting caught out in the middle of the woods with no shelter. But I found myself thinking this was perfect weather for running. And kinda wishing I was running right now. It was warm enough where the rain wouldn’t feel cold, but would be perfect to keep you from getting overheated on a hot summers day.

I was getting soaked but at least I wasn’t freezing too.

Start/Finish

Eventually, I made it back to the start finish line. I continued to photograph runners as they finished. I changed out of my completely soaked shirt and jack and put on a fresh shirt and RAIN COAT. In between runners I dropped off most of my camera gear in my car to keep it out of the rain. Now only using the camera and lens that would be most able to capture good photographs in the ever darkening storm. I love this little Sony Alpha 6000 and 20mm lens.

But, I may have asked too much of my little dynamic duo. The photos it was producing turned out great as I expected. But the elements may have been too much for it.

I think I was able to photograph all the 25k Runners. But I was unable to photograph the rest of the 50k runners that finished after the 6.5 hour mark. My camera literally couldn’t take it anymore. My trusty little Sony Alpha was officially waterlogged and started giving me strange error messages. IT wouldn’t take anymore photos. The camera lost to the weather.

The runners overcame the weather and the challenges, my camera gear could not do the same.

The worst part about me having to stop due to my camera malfunctioning is that I did have a rain sleeve for my cameras in my camera bag, which I had with me. But I was too focused on taking the actual photographs to realize that I was pretty well prepared for the situation. If I had only slowed down and taken the time to think. Maybe I would have been able to successfully phonograph the entire event.

We live and we learn don’t we.

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