2018 i will run 40 marathons

In the 2017 Wuxi Marathon, a photo of a 'Superwoman Runner' suddenly went viral in the running community, bringing Black Cat's Black into the spotlight.

At the 2018 Xiamen Marathon Expo, runners gathered under Shen Squid's photo to take funny selfies, creating a lively atmosphere.

Coincidentally, both of these photos were taken by the same marathon photographer, and that person isTommy.

Taking the road less traveled, pushing the limits

Back in 1997, Tommy had left the track and field team for several years, but during this time, he never gave up his passion for extreme sports. Even after graduation and starting work, he continued to pursue his extreme sports.

Until one day, he made up his mind to focus on running his own extreme sports park.

Taking a group of students everywhere

It was from that time that, with the aim of documenting the process of 'having fun,' he began using a DSLR to record his life.

To faithfully document the development of extreme sports in China, he fell deeply into the world of photography, unable to extricate himself. Could this be considered discovering a new skill?

Extreme sports not thrilling enough, racing driver danger online

By 2008, domestic racing events were burgeoning. As a motorcycle enthusiast, Tommy followed the local team into this exciting and dangerous field.

He started to get a racing license and apply for driver qualifications. Besides participating in races, he also recorded and shot racing videos. Coincidentally, his works were adopted by various parties such as race organizers and teams. Tommy felt a surge of pride!

See if you can spot Tommy

Yes, that's Tommy

Participating in 4-5 races a year while also shooting

Tommy smiles at you

During breaks in racing photography, he loves to hide in the media center to tinker with photos (after all, it's the only place with air conditioning, hahaha...)

The car goes faster and faster, the photos get more and more numerous.

One rainy afternoon in 2015, while participating in a domestic race, Tommy started from the back row, overtook about 20 opponents in the first three laps, and was about to enter the top five when he made a mistake in a combination turn and crashed! The race was halted, and he was rushed to the hospital.

His collarbone was shattered, and after surgery, the result was that he could no longer race.

At the time, he said with a smile:

'It's okay!'

But inside, he was devastated! His beloved racing, was it over for good?

Unwilling, very unwilling. After multiple friendly but tense family meetings, it was decided that he could go to the track but not touch the car, only allowed to shoot.

So, he signed with race organizers or teams and became a track photographer, producing the following works.

A domestic major race super group

A domestic champion driver

Tommy's childhood playmate, a well-known domestic driver

Three well-known domestic drivers fighting for a turn

Transforming into a marathon photographer, facing more challenges in 2018

One day, a friend asked him, do you understand running?

He thought: Running, how simple is that? How could I not understand? After running for so many years, isn't running as easy as using chopsticks to eat?

However... after running 500 meters at a steady pace, he threw up. Yes, he really threw up. But Tommy was determined and started training, eventually managing to run a half marathon.

A month before the 2016 Nanjing Marathon, this friend (yes, the same one) pulled him into a team and said:

'You understand running, and you understand photography, so go shoot the marathon.'

'What kind of operation is this? What is this about?'

It turned out this team was called iYundong. Tommy understood it as shoot, submit photos, done.

On National Day 2016, at the Nanjing Marathon, he shot his first marathon photography, witnessing all the half marathon runners pass by.

He calculated 6000+ photos, not bad, satisfied.

But he didn't expect that there were others better than him. In that same race, he learned about Feng 11, a 'god-like' presence who shot 11,000 photos. Tommy was determined to shoot better in the next marathon.

This was his starting point

In a twist of fate, at the Hefei Marathon, he met someone named Dai Wuyan.

It turned out Dai Wuyan also started shooting marathon photos from the 2016 Nanjing Marathon. Even more coincidentally, they were not only of similar age but also both from Nanjing.

So, the two of them planned to shoot big at Hefei West Taihu back-to-back!

With a goal in mind, he was full of energy. Thus, the 2016 Hefei Marathon became his first marathon photography PB, with a total of 15,618 photos. However, due to a shooting plan error the next day at West Taihu, they went off course, climbing mountains and crossing rivers, almost like a military swim. They only managed to shoot over 3000 photos hastily...

Since then, inspecting related routes before shooting marathons became his habit; establishing shooting plans and backup plans also became his consistent style.

Therefore, before shooting a marathon, he would post strange photos and texts in his friends circle, like where he would be and what he would wear.

Do you think he's funny?

Always so engaging, so be sure to follow his sports circle and let Tommy take more photos, hahaha...

Time flies, and soon it was 2017. This year was a boom year for marathons in China.

Marathons Tommy shot in 2017

This year, he shot 25 marathon events including Guangzhou Marathon, Beijing Marathon, and Wuxi Marathon, accumulating about 600,000 photos. He even shot 66,000 photos in a single event at the Shanghai Marathon (compared to a certain god's 76,000 photos, hahaha, he tried his best). Well, two Canon 1-series bodies, four commonly used lenses, a computer, and related accessories made up his standard marathon shooting kit.

Basic equipment for shooting a race

Packed into the bag

Work photo in Guangzhou, taken by photographer Huasheng

However, he still clamored to buy more lens equipment, shoot more marathon events, and strive to break the 1 million mark in 2018.

Wait, don't think he's a full-time marathon photographer. He's actually a company employee, managing daily operations and project maintenance. He only shoots on weekends, yet he boldly declared he would shoot 40 marathons in 2018.

His family commented: Crazy! He's gone crazy! He doesn't care about this family anymore!

Hahaha, so Tommy said: 'I won't shoot during winter and summer vacations, I'll stay with my daughter. The rest of the time, it's for marathons, okay?'

His wife appeared calm on the surface, but inside... However, his daughter said: 'Daddy, you have to take me out to play every month!'

His daughter is his treasure

2018 has already arrived, has the rainy battle of the Xiamen Marathon ended?

Friends, forget about being drenched like a dog in Xiamen, and see you at Jinji Lake with Tommy!