I was looking forward to sharing my Cape Town Marathon photos until I saw them. I hoped that the marathon photography gods would smile on me and that my good side at my best moments would adorn all images of me. Alas, maybe because I didn’t run 100% of my training easy runs easy enough, then punished me.
I wasn’t happy with any of them. In the photos I was in, I was in a crowd of people. And, in some of them I was not in focus–it was obvious I was not the primary subject. I also didn’t want to run with my phone and take my own photos and videos like many did. I wanted to focus on the run and enjoy doing it without thinking about capturing good images.
The photos were for my own memories. The Cape Town Marathon was my first and, besides the medal, I wanted to memorialise in images as well. I lowkey, also wanted to flex. Show off. Runners, let’s be honest after a marathon you want images to brag with too. Not just any, but great ones.
Anyways, after seeing my Cape Town Marathon images I decided I wasn’t going to let them see the light of day. At least not on my socials. Not by my choice, but I have changed my mind.
I am sharing images that I don’t like because, they are true. The conditions were not always ideal. The lighting wasn’t great throughout the course. I was in pain when I was snapped unawares. In fact, I didn’t even notice photographers during the race. I forgot to put on sunscreen so by the time we got halfway I could’ve been mistaken for the sibling of burnt toast.
There are many more things I could whine about, but that doesn’t matter. The important thing (whatever that means here) is why I decided to share the photos.
I shared them as a runners’ integrity challenge for myself. A moment of being honest about how sometimes runs look like. I do not always have the “love running” feels on every run. Sometimes I not only look but feel terrible. There are also times I am having fun but it doesn’t look like it.
Whether donned with a smile or grimace, regardless of pain or lack of it I enjoy running more than I care about how I look while doing it. I think that’s what am trying to not only convince myself, but also mourn not getting the images I was hoping for.
Regardless of how the images look I would not do that race any different. I enjoyed it.