{"id":2525,"date":"2015-02-15T23:09:33","date_gmt":"2015-02-15T14:09:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2015-02-15\/2525"},"modified":"2015-02-15T23:09:33","modified_gmt":"2015-02-15T14:09:33","slug":"2015-kyoto-marathon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2015-02-15\/2525","title":{"rendered":"2015 Kyoto Marathon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 320 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nThrill of Victory<\/span>\nas far as I'm concerned about marathons, any finish is a victory<\/span>\n\u5e73\u6210\uff12\uff17\u306e\u4eac\u90fd\u30de\u30e9\u30bd\u30f3\u306e\u30d5\u30a3\u30cb\u30c3\u30b7\u30e5\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Today was the 2015 Kyoto City Marathon. Just as when I blogged<\/span> about the 2012 Kyoto City Marathon<\/a>, I went out<\/span> with the\nNikkor 300mm f\/2<\/a>, but new this time is that I intended<\/span> to try to\nphotograph two acquaintances who had told me their intended pace and sent\nphotos of what they were wearing.<\/p>\n\n

To help increase my luck in picking out two faces from 16,000 runners, I set up<\/span> a bit<\/span> past the halfway point just before a turnaround,<\/span> so runners\nwere going both directions in front of me. If I suddenly<\/span> noticed a friend<\/span>\ngoing by one way, I'd have a<\/span> few minutes to properly prepare for\nphotographing their return.<\/p>\n\n

Unfortunately, I was literally 30 seconds too late to take my intended\nroute to the spot... I saw the<\/span> road become closed off right in front of me,\nso I ended<\/span> up having to make a meandering<\/span> path around traffic cutoffs, and\nI arrived<\/span> to my intended spot 15 minutes later than I planned.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 125 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSea of Faces<\/span>\n\u30de\u30e9\u30bd\u30f3\u306e\u534a\u5206\u70b9\u306e\u3061\u3087\u3063\u3068\u5f8c\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 320 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nThat's Some Hair!<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

It was hard not to notice this guy's amazing head of hair. He seems<\/span> to\nbe a force<\/span> of nature... I was able<\/span> to find his web\nsite<\/a>, where he identifies himself as a surgeon,<\/span> musician\n(piano\/guitar\/vocal), and obviously an athlete. He even has<\/span> his own\ncustom-designed shirt... he's the “<\/span>Ricka”<\/span> of “<\/span>Team Ricka”<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nFetching<\/span>\n\u6728\u6751 \u6cf0\u5fb3 · Yasunori Kimura\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I was getting dizzy after 20 minutes of trying to pick faces out from the moving crowd, and thought I'd missed them both,\nwhen suddenly one pops into view!<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 280 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nElena Nikitinskaya<\/a><\/span>\na friend from my gym\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 180 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

It was about three minutes to the turnaround and back, so I watched<\/span> and waited...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 800 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nShould Be In Here Somewhere<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

I wasn't able to pick her out again... that's how crowded it was. On the chance<\/span> that she'd paused along the way to rest, I lingered<\/span> for a while<\/span> and took in the colorful crowd...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 1000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nCurrently 1st Place<\/span>\nin the “Superhero, Male” category\n(his real identity — \u4e95\u672c \u6075\u4ecb<\/span> · Keisuke Imoto — must forever remain a secret<\/span>)\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 720 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 1000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nKatherine Runs a Lot<\/span><\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

She happened to glance right at me as I snapped<\/span> a picture,<\/span> which is why I include<\/span> it here. A web search<\/span> for her name\n(Katherine Lee Ming Sze) shows her in lots of race results.<\/p>\n\n

A few minutes past when Elena should have returned by, it started to rain, so I packed<\/span> up to go home.<\/p>\n\n

The rain had stopped by the time I got<\/span> home, so I left<\/span> my scooter at home and walked out to the finish to scope out a good<\/span> place\nto spot someone far enough away to take pictures. I find an<\/span> appropriate spot 360m before the finish, looking down a 140m<\/span> segment\nof road that slopes down to my position.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nA Minute<\/span> or Two Before the Finish<\/span>\n\u30d5\u30a3\u30cb\u30c3\u30b7\u30e5\u306e\u76f4\u524d(\u301c360m)\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 160 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nLots of Energy<\/span>\nfor having run a sub-3hr marathon\nIt was about the 2:56 point when I took<\/span> the photo, and it'd probably take a minute<\/span> and a half<\/span> to reach the finish.<\/small>\n\u677e\u4e0b \u96c4\u592a · Yuudai Matsushita\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 125 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nFreakishly Relaxed<\/span>\nthis guy (Daniel Matson) looked like he was on a fashion<\/span> runway\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nGoPro'ing His Finish<\/span>\nJulien Mentzer\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 560 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nNeedle in a Haystack<\/span><\/span>\nthere he is, the other person I was<\/span> trying to pick out\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The other person I was looking for, Jeremy White<\/a>, is a member<\/span> of the\n“<\/span>Cycling Kyoto”<\/span> Facebook Group<\/a> that I've recently joined. I've never met him,\nbut when he mentioned<\/span> he was going to run the race, I asked<\/span> for his pace an a photo<\/span> of what he was wearing.<\/p>\n\n

There were a bazillion Caucasians with “<\/span>blue shirt and green number bib”<\/span>\nand especially after not having been able to find him at the first spot, I held little<\/span> hope finding him here, but I kept<\/span> scanning far ahead with the\nbig 300mm lens, and lo and behold he appeared.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 560 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 720 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The photo above, with proper focus missed, really shows that I don't<\/span>\nhave the skill to use this lens in this situation. I love using<\/span> a\nmanual<\/span>-focus lens, but even at these distances, f\/2 leaves a pretty<\/span> thin\ndepth of field and I'd set up such that the runners are doing their best to\nmove out of the plane of focus as quickly as possible. <\/p>\n\n

I want to say that this is not the lens for this situation, but I could<\/span>\nmake it work better if I had<\/span> better skill. But I want<\/span> to use it anyway\nbecause it's such an exceedingly rare kind of lens (there are only a few<\/span>\nhundred in existence), so it has the chance to give me results no one else\ncould get.<\/p>\n\n

Mostly I feel I failed — none of the results here are\nphotographically what I had<\/span> hoped for — but the quality of the\nsubject matter makes up for it. Folks who see themselves in the pictures\nlike them, and that's probably the most important measure of success.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 900 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nOn Pace for 3:17<\/span>\n90 seconds hence\n(this is the first time we'd ever “<\/span>met”<\/span>)\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 640 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

It would be another hour before I expected<\/span> Elena to come by, so I looked<\/span> for fun and interesting folks in the crowd...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 360 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nEvent Staff<\/span>\nhuffing and puffing it out\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 320 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nI've No Idea<\/span>\n\u95a2\u6c34 \u5b66 · Manabu Sekimizu\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 220 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nTeam Ricka Again<\/span>\non pace for about 3:25\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 450 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nVictory!<\/span>\n\u91ce\u5cf6 \u5bdb · Hiroshi Nojima\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 280 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSticker Shock<\/span>\nthe sticker over her number means she might not get official photos\n( but I found her online, so I'll send this one)\n\u5c0f\u5ddd \u967d\u5b50 · Yoko Ogawa\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 320 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nEasy Smile<\/span>\n\u30ec\u30fc\u30eb \u30de\u30eb\u30af\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 320 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nMore Triumph<\/span>\n\u7b20\u539f \u52dd · Masaru?<\/span> Kasahara\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/4, ISO 900 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nHigh Fives<\/span>\nsome folks did this with those cheering on; I thought<\/span> it was nice\n\u4e09\u6d66 \u57fa\u884c · Motoyuki Miura\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nEvent Staff<\/span>\nbetter prepared than the ones seen above\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 320 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBaby High Five<\/span>\n\u5c71\u672c \u525b\u5927 · Yoshi Yamamoto\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 360 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n“<\/span>Kyoto Kamogawa (river) Running Club”<\/span><\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

At one point I noticed the banner for the running club that Elena is a member<\/span> of, but I was<\/span> growing hopeless about being able\nto pick her out of the ever-increasing mass of runners. Just look at how the numbers had swelled:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/16, ISO 6400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nFast-Flowing River of Folks<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

I didn't expect Elena for another 20 to 30 minutes, during which the numbers would only swell... <\/p>\n\n

... which makes it all the more shocking that I actually<\/span> noticed her 25 seconds later:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 450 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nAnother Haystack, Another Needle<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 450 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 320 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nLooking For Her First Sub-4h Marathon<\/span>\nshe should make it with minutes to spare\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Having had success in plucking the two needles, I wandered<\/span> back towards the finish...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nDomo-Kun<\/span>\nNTT (Japanese National Television) Mascot\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 140 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nI Have<\/span> No Idea<\/span>\n( actually I do; I ran into my mother-in-law near the finish and she told me this was ZAQ<\/a> )\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n“<\/span>Finisher”<\/span> Towels<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 640 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nJob Well Done<\/span>\nthis worker passing out towels had such a happy<\/span> high-five for every runner coming through\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 800 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 900 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPosing With His Towel<\/span>\n( Sadly, I couldn't unzoom with my feet due to the crowd )\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 1100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBananas For All!<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

I ran into a number of folks I knew in the few minutes I was<\/span> walking\nhome, including Elena who had thrown street clothes over her running\nclothes and was headed to the subway...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f\/2 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 900 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n( 300mm was a bit tight for this, too. I should<\/span> have had another body with me )\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Elena looked less tired than I<\/i> felt. She often<\/span> does 12-hour 100km\nmountain runs, so a little<\/span> thing like a marathon<\/span> doesn't work up much of a\nsweat,<\/span> I suppose.<\/span> Out of my<\/span> league.<\/p>\n\n

Elena is Russian and I assume she speaks English just fine, as any\nWesterner I've ever meet in Japan does, but at the gym we speak only\nJapanese to each other. It feels<\/span> weird because it's such a rare<\/span> thing\n(English is the lingua franca<\/i> among Westerners and many non-Japanese\nEasterners as well), but it's The Right Thing. We're in Japan, after all.<\/p>\n\n

Anyway, \u304a\u3081\u3067\u3068\u3046 (congratulations) to Elena, Jeremy, and everyone who finished, or even\nattempted, the race. As for myself<\/span>, I feel like<\/span> a winner<\/span> too, for\nbeing able to get up so early on a Sunday.<\/span> Time\nfor a well<\/span>-earned nap! \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n\n

(But first I'll send photos to all the folks I could<\/span> track down.)<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today was the 2015 Kyoto City Marathon. Just as when I blogged about the 2012 Kyoto City Marathon, I went out with the Nikkor 300mm f\/2, but new this time is that I intended to try to photograph two acquaintances who had told me their intended pace and sent photos of what they were wearing.<\/p>

To help increase my luck in picking out two faces from 16,000 runners, I set up a bit past the halfway point just before a turnaround, so runners were going both directions in front of me. If I suddenly noticed a friend going by one [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2,26],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2525"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2525\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}