Loper Pics

Among the fantastic benefits of being a Loper is our resident photographer.

At certain races where lots of Lopers will be on the course, a Loper/photographer snaps pictures of us. He sells them to us - the actual picture, not a digital image - afterward. He could probably charge a lot more but a 5-by-7 print costs us a whopping five dollars.

I bought these from him. This first one was an 8-by-10 and it's probably one of my favorite pictures of all the ones I got, either from the pictures I ordered or the Loper shots.

11-minute pace group in action

From left to right, there are seven Lopers. Five are wearing their pink the gentleman in the white hat in the middle is Art our pace leader (this was his 56th marathon) and the girl in the white tank top to his right is also a Loper. Aside from Art and the third Loper from the right, the rest of us were running Marathon No. 1.

I'm not sure what mile this is. The gloves were off so it was probably after Mile 10, but Marilu and I were still with the group so I'm guessing that this is between Mile 11-14.

This next one is of me somewhere around Mile 21 or 22.

chugging along the course

You can tell I'm having a rough time at this moment because of how my thumb is. I do that sometimes. I'll put my thumb in my palm and close my other fingers around it. It's not very comfortable or anything, doesn't make me run any faster or help me exert more energy. It's just like a nervous tic or something I guess, something to take my mind off of things if you will.

This next picture isn't from Surf City, but it's a great picture nonetheless.

haulin' ass down the stretch

That was during my sprint to the finish after the Loper Holiday Classic 15K in December. I remember reaching deep down and sprinting to the finish, sprinting from way back. It wasn't like it was just the last couple of feet or whatever. That probably means I could have been running faster the previous miles before then, but I just had a hard time wrapping around the race distance and when I should push myself or how I should handle the distances.

I remember seeing the photographer but I was too focused on the course (I was just about to turn the corner and head into the finish) to give it much thought.

Those three pictures - two 5-by-7s and one 8-by-10 - cost me 15 dollars. Can't beat that.