26 miles to go…

For the past three decades, the October Bank Holiday Monday sees Dublin city centre closed to give way to the annual running of the city marathon, and early this morning a record 12,750 runners passed through the start line on Fitzwilliam Street to participate in the 30th Dublin Marathon.

I found myself getting up early this morning to head into town for two reasons – firstly, the marathon would be a good opportunity for some photographs, and secondly, my father-in-law was going to be running it and so there was a chance to try to track his progress around the course.

Luckily for me, the start of the course ran along Fitzwilliam Square East, which is where my office is located – so not only did it mean I could bring my car (and my camera gear) all the way into town, but also I was guaranteed a good vantage point for the start of the race.

This is just one of a number of shots I took from this vantage point, but unless the blog is to get very boring, probably the only one I’ll post of the start (for now at least).  It is using a tried-and-tested formula for me of fisheye lens + elevated vantage point + lots of people = distinctive shot.  You might recognize the look from one of my favourite shots from the Volvo Ocean Race Stopover in Galway last June. It’s a nice bonus that my office is almost directly in line with the centre of Fitzwilliam Square, giving the shot a nice symmetry.

After finishing up at the start area it was time to pack up and head for the 18 mile mark at Milltown, where I was lucky to get a nice photo of the ultimate winner of the race – more on that tomorrow.