I spent Sunday morning and early afternoon in the Phoenix Park photographing the 2009 Great Ireland Run. It was a great day for the run, with the rain staying away and the sun even making occassional appearances. The main event saw a record 11,000 people tackle the 10km course. The first of a series of shots from the event this week is taken from the 2.7km Junior run which attracted some of Ireland’s top upcoming athletes. And these three.
Now one of two things is going on here. These three kids could be extremely talented young runners who feel that running shorts are for wimps, and that running 2.7km in jeans is the test of a real athlete. Or they got bored of watching from the side of the road and, spotting the cameras – mine included – at the end of the finish line, they decided to go for glory, but had nowhere safe to stash the Pringles.
I suspect it was the latter.
Their dash to fame was somewhat successful. The leaders of the Junior run had finished about 5 minutes earlier and the photographers were preparing to leave the finish area to photograph the awards ceremony. I was packing up my camera when I heard one of the other photographers say “fellas, check this out” and all of a sudden every lens in the place was focusing on them. They got a big cheer from the assembled crowd, and maybe even made the TV coverage.
Of course, I could be wrong and these may indeed be upcoming athletes. So if you’re watching the 2020 Olympics and some Irish athletes line up for the start of the relay with a tub of Pringles as a baton, you’ll know where you saw them first.
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