Phil from www.firstoffthebike.com asked me to write a piece about snapping the photos of Mirinda Carfrae at NZ IM...seems the photos were very popular!! Anyway, here is what I wrote about it all...
If every picture tells a story, then a series of photos of the reigning world champion waiting beside the road mid race with a flat tyre is worthy of a novel. I'm not going to write such a tome, just tell the story behind the photos I was able to snap that wet, wet day in Taupo.
I was in Taupo primarily to support 5 athletes I coach in the race, and being ever the opportunist, Phil (firstoffthebike.com editor) gave me the assignment of following and describing a day in life of the IM world champ in her first outing since winning the title. No problems, I said, and see if you can get me a media pass complete with free drinks that I hear the media live on. Alas, it wasn't to be so I would be watching from the sidelines like everyone else, which left me wondering...do the media even get free drinks??
Anyway, I was excited about the whole event being 6 years since I did the race myself - my first IM - and now spectating with multiple people to watch out for.
Pre-race it was hard to find people - let alone Mirinda - as everyone went to ground, understandably, and loitering around the bike drop-off isn't my idea of fun. Plus, it was starting to rain. So the best I could do was a photo of Mirinda's bike, in the dark, through the perimeter fence, on race morning. Knowing her bike and race number would prove useful later in the day.
The race got underway in rain, often heavy, but non-stop pretty much all day which would play havoc with even my waterproof compact camera from getting drops of water on the lens and nothing dry to wipe it with. The first sighting of athletes would be as they started the bike while it was only semi-light, and things were looking good for Mirinda - and my athletes - after good swims. Snapping moving bikes in the wet with a splodgy lens was tricky...I am far from a professional photographer, or even a competent amateur.
Things went quiet in town during the first bike lap, with the Ironmanlive web-site providing good updates. I planned a strategy to hopefully see / photograph Mirinda and also my athletes amongst the field, which inevitably meant getting very wet...at least it wasn't too cold, I reassured myself. Despite my plans I still missed the pros heading back into town but got on my hired mountain bike to ride around the outskirts of town to hopefully see them heading out...which I also mostly failed at. However lady luck was on my side, as I was about to realise.
As I rode up a road against the flow of athletes the other way I came upon a bike propped up against a sign pole, obviously with a flat tyre. That must suck, I thought, at the prospect of changing a tyre in the wet. When I got closer I recognised the bike and race number, #12, as being Mirinda's and at the same time thought that is really bad luck for her, but also excitement at the photo scoop I was about to get...there wasn't another camera in sight. Phil will love me...in a man-love kind of way, that is...
I dropped my MTB and dashed across the road where a car and 3-4 people were standing - Mirinda, another athlete and a couple of race volunteers - waiting for race tech support to arrive. With camera in hand, Mirinda was happy enough to pose with a little wave and a smile, wrapped in a space blanket. We chatted for a few minutes and she explained that her spare tyre had bounced out, and that just she wanted to finish in order to ratify her qualification for Kona.
A few things struck me as we talked...that she is really quite short, is a humble and lovely person, and was very relaxed about the whole situation even though the race was riding away from her up the road. My opinion of her as a person - let alone as an athlete - went up considerably, and it turns out we'd even met before via a mutual friend back in 2003...a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then!!
Not wanting to revel in her back luck too much, I got back on my MTB and rode on a bit further to spot my athletes but turned back after a 5 minutes or so to still find her roadside but now with tech support slotting in a new rear wheel. However, that wasn't the end of it as just as she got back on they found her rear bottle cage was loose and needed an Allen key to tighen...adding more time to her delay. By the time she was ready to go she was visibly shivvering but pushed off nonetheless and back into the fray after at least 10-15 mins beside the road.
The race - and the rain - continued on, and I saw both my athletes and Mirinda later in the race, in particular on the run leg where she started way, way behind Sam Warriner but running strongly with her usual rhythm. My final sighting was with about 9km to go where I thought she was close enough to push for a win, but it wasn't to be yet still came in an amazing 2nd place, just ahead of fellow pucture recipient Jo Lawn.
The moral of the story from following Mirinda is to never give up in any circumstance, and also that regardless of what success you might enjoy during life, being an honest, humble and friendly person is what most people will remember about you. And from watching my athletes I learned that the level of age group competition is amazing, and that where the mind is strong enough then the body can do amazing things.
If every picture tells a story, then a series of photos of the reigning world champion waiting beside the road mid race with a flat tyre is worthy of a novel. I'm not going to write such a tome, just tell the story behind the photos I was able to snap that wet, wet day in Taupo.
I was in Taupo primarily to support 5 athletes I coach in the race, and being ever the opportunist, Phil (firstoffthebike.com editor) gave me the assignment of following and describing a day in life of the IM world champ in her first outing since winning the title. No problems, I said, and see if you can get me a media pass complete with free drinks that I hear the media live on. Alas, it wasn't to be so I would be watching from the sidelines like everyone else, which left me wondering...do the media even get free drinks??
Anyway, I was excited about the whole event being 6 years since I did the race myself - my first IM - and now spectating with multiple people to watch out for.
Pre-race it was hard to find people - let alone Mirinda - as everyone went to ground, understandably, and loitering around the bike drop-off isn't my idea of fun. Plus, it was starting to rain. So the best I could do was a photo of Mirinda's bike, in the dark, through the perimeter fence, on race morning. Knowing her bike and race number would prove useful later in the day.
The race got underway in rain, often heavy, but non-stop pretty much all day which would play havoc with even my waterproof compact camera from getting drops of water on the lens and nothing dry to wipe it with. The first sighting of athletes would be as they started the bike while it was only semi-light, and things were looking good for Mirinda - and my athletes - after good swims. Snapping moving bikes in the wet with a splodgy lens was tricky...I am far from a professional photographer, or even a competent amateur.
Things went quiet in town during the first bike lap, with the Ironmanlive web-site providing good updates. I planned a strategy to hopefully see / photograph Mirinda and also my athletes amongst the field, which inevitably meant getting very wet...at least it wasn't too cold, I reassured myself. Despite my plans I still missed the pros heading back into town but got on my hired mountain bike to ride around the outskirts of town to hopefully see them heading out...which I also mostly failed at. However lady luck was on my side, as I was about to realise.
As I rode up a road against the flow of athletes the other way I came upon a bike propped up against a sign pole, obviously with a flat tyre. That must suck, I thought, at the prospect of changing a tyre in the wet. When I got closer I recognised the bike and race number, #12, as being Mirinda's and at the same time thought that is really bad luck for her, but also excitement at the photo scoop I was about to get...there wasn't another camera in sight. Phil will love me...in a man-love kind of way, that is...
I dropped my MTB and dashed across the road where a car and 3-4 people were standing - Mirinda, another athlete and a couple of race volunteers - waiting for race tech support to arrive. With camera in hand, Mirinda was happy enough to pose with a little wave and a smile, wrapped in a space blanket. We chatted for a few minutes and she explained that her spare tyre had bounced out, and that just she wanted to finish in order to ratify her qualification for Kona.
A few things struck me as we talked...that she is really quite short, is a humble and lovely person, and was very relaxed about the whole situation even though the race was riding away from her up the road. My opinion of her as a person - let alone as an athlete - went up considerably, and it turns out we'd even met before via a mutual friend back in 2003...a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then!!
Not wanting to revel in her back luck too much, I got back on my MTB and rode on a bit further to spot my athletes but turned back after a 5 minutes or so to still find her roadside but now with tech support slotting in a new rear wheel. However, that wasn't the end of it as just as she got back on they found her rear bottle cage was loose and needed an Allen key to tighen...adding more time to her delay. By the time she was ready to go she was visibly shivvering but pushed off nonetheless and back into the fray after at least 10-15 mins beside the road.
The race - and the rain - continued on, and I saw both my athletes and Mirinda later in the race, in particular on the run leg where she started way, way behind Sam Warriner but running strongly with her usual rhythm. My final sighting was with about 9km to go where I thought she was close enough to push for a win, but it wasn't to be yet still came in an amazing 2nd place, just ahead of fellow pucture recipient Jo Lawn.
The moral of the story from following Mirinda is to never give up in any circumstance, and also that regardless of what success you might enjoy during life, being an honest, humble and friendly person is what most people will remember about you. And from watching my athletes I learned that the level of age group competition is amazing, and that where the mind is strong enough then the body can do amazing things.
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