My Calendar Girl - Run For It!
DSC_0466
A training run on a glorious Fall day. The path is through Doreen Thompson Park in Waterloo.
In October, 2005, just as she was gearing up into training for Ironman U.S.A, I shot Marian running through the absolutely gorgeous Fall colours of Doreen Thompson Park in Waterloo, Ontario. The day was magic and the run needed to be photographed.
Three years later, Kathy Wade-Vlaar asked to use the image in her running calendar, which she publishes and distributes to Toronto area runners each year.
I never did ask Kathy how she found the shot, but I am going to guess that she was surfing looking for promising images. In any case, in late December, we received our copy of the calendar, with Marian as Miss October! (Of course it was October.)
Preparing the shot for the calendar, I took time to Photoshop a small flash of red near the center of the picture. This little bit of red was a tell-tale sign that another runner was nearby.
DSC_3992 - Training Run
It seems that Kathy's calendar liked her presence. The following year, the running image chosen was a shot that I use a lot for greeting cards. Like the Fall shot of the Waterloo run, this shot was taken to use in Swimming with the Sharks, my book book to celebrate Marian's Ironman USA.
This shot made Marian into Miss June for the 2010 calendar and it was also the cover shot.
DSC_2579 - Spring Training Run
A winter of training eventually becomes a springtime of pleasant but longer runs.
What I failed to notice, for the longest time, is that another shot of Marian was used in the 2010 calendar. This one, printed as a wash behind the text on the inside cover, was a springtime shot that included Marian and her friend, Jodi. All one needs after a longish training run is someone calling out from across the pond that the shot needs to be done again!
DSC_10960
The Pace Bunny helps runners to meet their goal. The runner relies on the Bunny to move at exactly the right pace; fast enough to meet the time and slow enough to prevent burn-out.
It's not totally clear in the image, but you can see the Pace Band on the water bottle. In addition, it looks from here as if there is a GPS on the left arm.
Kathy published a 2011 calendar this December, and this time Marian featured as Miss May. This shot is one of my favourites. It is an image of her in her role as Pace Bunny for the Ottawa Half-Marathon.
Pace Bunnies are in the race to assist other runners in maintaining an even achievable pace which will get them to the start line in their goal-time. On Marian's left arm, barely visible, is her Garmin GPS which provides feedback on pace and distance. If you look at her waterbottle, you will see a low-tech back-up; a pace-band with the expected times for each kilometer has been printed and taped to the water-bottle.
The first three shots on this page were used in the Ironman USA book, Swimming with the Sharks. If you would like to see the Ironman book, it can be freely downloaded from this web site. Be warned that it's a big file!
Copyright Mike MacKay 2011