2020 Marathon Olympic Trials
A Personal Photo Project by David Bracetty
I told myself going in that if I walked away with one great image that makes it into my portfolio, it’s a win.
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A week before the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials in Atlanta, I secured my plane ticket and finally decided I was going to go for it and attempt to capture athletes soon after the crossed the line in exhaustion, elation or whatever they felt after the treacherous 26.2 course that many said was “the hardest course/ thing/ race they’ve ever run”.
But in order to pull off the project I had in mind I had a bit of a to do list:
- Find and hire two assistants (Thank you Instagram and Facebook Groups)
- Rent gear and have it shipped
- Find a place to sleep last minute
- Cross my fingers I could even capture a single athlete
I knew that without media credential I wasn’t going to have access that I wanted — but I ok with that. I looked at it as a way to challenge myself to produce something different, not better. With so many other great photographers there is just so much talent capturing the race; the challenge after doing this for the last 13 years is to continue to find a different angle and continue to grow as a photographer.
Any photographer can tell you it’s super tough to land a dream client but what they don’t tell you is how you hard you work and continue to innovate.
So after the delayed flight, renting a car from the wrong location, driving an hour to pickup gear, I finally arrived at Olympic Centennial Park and quickly realized the dire truth. I wasn’t getting anywhere near that finish line. (Queue deeps breaths)
On the bright side, I was able to find two willing and amazingly talented photographers to help out with the project (thank you Neta and Krish!) It’s so hard to find great people to help and I was so happy to find them in the 11th hour.
Hotlanta was more like cold-n-windy-lanta. The winds were angry that day my friends!
The morning of the race, after a Chik-Fil-A breakfast (thank goodness the marathon wasn’t on a Sunday), we quickly realized there was no way in the world we were going to be able to hold the background and huge light outside. We hung out in front of the Omni until we eventually realize we were better off posting up agains a wall (after getting permission from security) and have the athletes come to us via the escalator. One by one we started to capture athletes pre race, so we can warm up, test the light and see the response. After some tweaking (not twerking) we found light that we liked and started to ask people. About an hour and a half from the start, most of the runners were super excited for a portrait. The said yes immediately only to ask after “wait, whats this for?” We had a model release for each athlete and it also serves as a way for us to get them images.
We saw the Olympic hopefuls starting to make their way past us and to the start.
“Kellyn, can we get a quick picture?”
A polite hand went up as to say, “No thanks, I have the biggest race of my life coming up” Understandably so, the athletes at that point were in tunnel vision but I figured I’d still offer.
“Shalane can I get a quick portrait?” I asked. She perhaps articulated it best by responding, “Sorry, we’re on a mission.”
After the race, were were waiting for the masses of foil blankets and salt laden faces to come by us. And that’s when I spotted Shelby Goose.
Hands down my favorite image from the set. Her expression, the Tracksmith colors, the blanket, the dried up sweat. I wanted more of this on repeat. As more athletes willingly agreed and shared their experience, we captured them with each shoot lasting a few frames and about 1 minute. We noticed those they were a bit removed from the blankets and emotions and had switched into warm clothes as a way to make up for running for more than 2 1/2 hours in unrelenting wind. Mental note: I need to be closer to the finish next time.
And that’s whats great about this sport.
There is usually another race, another Olympic Trials, another chance at greatness. I found myself feeling like all but six of the Olympic bound athletes. I took a shot at something great, did my best but to be honest came a bit short of the goals I had in my mine — but thats ok. I take what I learned from this experience, recoup, and go after the next one.
Wishing all of the athletes and coaches the best on the next step of their journey. A special shout out to the man behind The Morning Shakeout, Mario Fraioli for sharing my project with readers.
Have a marathon or race I should cover next? Leave it below in the comments!
To see more of my work, please visit by Instagram or my website.
