Stories: Bakline x McKirdy Micro Marathon

In the fall of 2023, the McKirdy team, sponsored by Bakline, held a special marathon in Rockland State Park. This event was designed to help provide runners as much support as possible to achieve a qualifying time for the Olympic Marathon Trials this coming February. For men, that meant running 2:18 or faster. For women, that meant breaking 2:37.

This day was going to be special, I knew there’d be emotion but I didn’t know that it was going to be as impactful as it turned out to be. Of the 150 starters, 33 qualified for the Trials.

Below is what I captured on the day.

Headlamp vibes while volunteers and runners warmed up. Time to start was 65 minutes.

Volunteers were incredibly attentive.

No matter what marathon you run, there will be a bathroom line. These are just facts.

Muscle memory.

The pacers took their responsibility seriously. I never envy them.

Tension.

And they’re off. The men’s standard is based off of gun time, so the start was purposefully crowded.

I’m generally not a poetic guy, but walking to my first shooting location I saw a flock of birds in formation headed south. It was the first time this season I saw this. It seemed fitting to capture. Peter Bromka can you make this into an essay? I’m not a great writer.

By the first lap packs were beginning to form, some large some small. Working together was key.

There were smiles on some, but not for long.

To me, the beauty of Rockland is in its simplicity. Flat paved road, woods, lake, runners. It’s an exercise in framing, and seeing if you can show the emotions that come through in an endurance event.

The people that came out to support were sprinkled throughout the course.

Mirror.

Bottles

As the race wore on, the marathon began to take its toll. The ranges of emotion that were on display were at times hard to process, you were seeing joy, energy, perseverance and despair - all seconds apart.

It was almost final lap time, and in the final stretch most of the packs diminished.

First to finish. Once Tsegay Tuemay of Eritrea crossed the line at 2:11:04, everyone celebrated, then got oddly quiet as we all knew the next 7 minutes would bring a lot of feelings. Good and bad.

Calli Thackery of Great Britain sped up her last lap. On the radio, we heard she was on track for just under 2:23 but instead she came in at 2:22:17. The lack of tape breaking doesn’t diminish the exuberance.

Savannah Berry needed to see it to believe it. 2:29:13.

9 seconds.

Orlando ticket stamped.

For some there was heartbreak.

Some finished in silence.

I’d like to thank the McKirdy Trained Team and Bakline for having me out to shoot this race. You can see and download the photos on Dropbox*

**If you intend on using these images for commercial purposes please contact me prior to usage.