Preface

This article was written on the day of the Shanghai Marathon, after a busy day where I was drenched and dried multiple times, working continuously for over 17 hours. My mind was foggy, and I pieced together these words and images in that state. So, please browse with understanding. Thank you!

Let's get to the main topic

2018 Shanghai Marathon

Race date: Sunday, November 18, 2018

Start time: 0700 AM

After arriving in Shanghai on Friday night, I immediately began preparations for the event. First, a meeting with the photographers to discuss and allocate shooting tasks and locations. We also had a meal to replenish carbohydrates.

My basic task this time was to shoot at the starting point, halfway point, and 2-3 locations near the finish line, ensuring coverage and photo quality throughout. This is the coverage shooting I'm accustomed to.

Reflecting on last year's Shanghai Marathon, I shot at the 8 km, 23 km, and 39 km points until the end, with a total of 66,000 photos. Whether I can surpass that this year depends on the weather on Sunday.

This time, these are my shooting locations

As a marathon photographer, I am not only active on the racecourse but also around the track and at various running team events.

On Saturday morning, Huawei set off for the marathon, and in the afternoon, the E-House Marathon Club held its founding ceremony. From 9:30 AM to 6 PM, I was constantly shooting, adjusting, uploading, and then repeating the process. Moving from one location to another, and doing it all over again.

Returning to my accommodation at night, I checked and adjusted the equipment, charged the batteries, backed up data, and cleared memory cards. I also prepared breakfast and lunch supplies for race day and rain gear. It was already midnight. Time to sleep.

Race Day

The alarm went off at 4 AM. Reluctantly leaving the warm bed, I organized my gear, checked everything, and left behind the still-sleeping photographer Owl. I headed to Caobao Road Metro Station to meet photographer Mr. Song Zhiguo. Although it had been drizzling all night, it had stopped by then, and the ground was even starting to dry. I quickly sent a message in my Shanghai Marathon photography group, informing them that the rain had stopped but there was still a high chance of rain. I had already set off. Hence, these few pictures.

*Caught the first train of Metro Line 1 to People's Square, then jogged to the starting point at North Bund

*Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street at dawn

*Me and Mr. Song Zhiguo

By 5 AM, the sky was still dark before dawn, but all personnel were already in place at the starting area: security, storage, guides, directional signs, barriers, sound systems, and materials had all arrived at their designated positions around midnight. Kudos to these hardworking people!

These photos were taken with the camera set to ISO 12800 or higher, but it was still too dark to achieve a safe shutter speed. Sigh... it was really too dark.

*Volunteers had all arrived on-site before 4 AM, braving the cold wind and staying at their posts. Kudos!

*Walking from Zone G to the starting point, I took photos along the way and met today's participants. The atmosphere was filled with both joy and tension. It was very warm and comfortable.

*The zone isolation personnel were very willing to serve and had great attitudes. Despite the hard work, they still had smiles on their faces.

Time flew by, and it seemed to get bright in an instant. I checked my watch: 6:38 AM. I hurried to the 1 km shooting point. Carrying over 20 kg of equipment isn't too heavy for a few kilometers of walking, but running was out of the question. At this moment, it seemed to start drizzling again.

At the 1 km point, I smoothly entered the location. At 6:55 AM, the lead car, technical car, and referee car passed by in sequence. At 7:03 AM, the runners arrived. I started coverage shooting.

*Referees, volunteers, and staff. The most beautiful people are those who are serious!

*My buddy Mr. Shen PB'd this time. When he saw me, he stopped to greet me, costing him 15 seconds and a lot of energy.They all say that handsome people run fast, and it's true!

At 7:30 AM, I reached the transfer window, boarded at Yuyuan Station, and met up with friends like Dai Wuyan. We exchanged our shooting experiences and discussed our next shooting locations.

Arrived at the 22 km water station, 200 meters away, set up the equipment, and started shooting. Fortunately, I arrived 5 minutes before the leading group.

The charming little miss who smiled back at me will dominate the Aiyundong event album homepage for a long time! I'll use this photo as the cover of this article. No objections, right?

Thanks to the police, security personnel, and volunteers for their support. At this location, they cooperated with my shooting and guided the runners to maintain a reasonable distance from my lens.

After photographing the 5-hour pacer, I triggered the transfer timing and immediately moved to the third location, the 80,000-seat stadium, which is also the finish line.

When I exited the metro station, the rain had intensified. I immediately rushed to the designated location.

Just after checking the equipment at the location, I heard Dai Wuyan shout, 'Shen Squid!' I quickly turned my lens, but I was a bit late and only captured a side view. This guy seemed to be in a daze and didn't notice me. Hahaha! Still, congratulations to this handsome guy for PB'ing by 10 minutes and achieving his long-planned Shanghai Marathon PB goal.

At this location, using a 200mm lens was a bit challenging as it was too far. The rain kept falling, so I quickly ran 200 meters back along the racecourse to a spot under a bridge and started shooting. Many photographers were gathered here, and since I arrived late, I didn't want to affect their work. I quietly moved to the edge and shot in the rain. This is it, sitting on the ground.

The rain got heavier, soaking my clothes and pants repeatedly. I constantly adjusted the focal length, focused, and released the shutter continuously to capture each runner's best posture and expression.

I kept shooting until the 6-hour pacer passed by, the sweeper car came through, and the roadblocks were lifted. Done with shooting. I headed to the meeting point to join photographer Wilderness Lone Boat and went to Mr. Song Zhiguo's place to start sorting and uploading the photos.

At 4 PM, I set off for the station. The 5 PM bus left Shanghai.

Over 50 hours in Shanghai. The warm Shanghai Marathon, despite the cold rain making my hands tremble and unable to press the shutter properly, and my body constantly showing signs of fatigue. Fortunately, I successfully completed the marathon shooting.

It was a cold, rainy event, but whether it was the runners, us photographers, or the volunteers, staff, referees, and security, we all brought warmth, united on the 42.195 km racecourse.

Shooting volume: over 57,000 photos; data volume: over 152 GB. I used about 10 GB of mobile data to upload photos that day. I hope these 57,000 photos and 152 GB of data can leave some beautiful memories for the 2018 Shanghai Marathon participants.