North East and Yorkshire Sport Photographer | Redcar Triathlon Event

This is the second year in a row that I’ve been asked to photograph the Redcar Sprint Triathlon in NorthYorkshire. I’m an experienced sports and events photographer used to working at venues like Gateshead Stadium,Middlesbrough football ground and the official BHF commercial photographer in Newcastle’s Great North Run, so I’m very familiar with being in several places at once, in order to capture all the action.

Organised by Trihard Events in partnership with Redcar and Cleveland Council, the Redcar Sprint Triathlon is a swimming, cycling and running race, with entrants taking on a 750m swim followed by a 20km cycle race and 5k run.

This gruelling event takes place on Redcar Esplanade and sees entrants dive into the sea next to the Dundas slipway, then run back to the transition point, collect their bikes and cycle along The Seafront between Zetland roundabout and Majuba Road, doing six laps. They then ditch the bikes and run a 5k lap along the seafront heading for Marske, turning just after Green Lane and then racing back to the finish line.

Fortunately the triathlon transition area and the seafront made a great area for a panoramic view of the action, and in some spots I was able to take pictures of runners and cyclists from one vantage point, as they passed each other.  

The Middlesbrough Gazette estimated that 200 people gathered for the event, and I guessed that around 170 were actually taking part. They were of all capabilities and ages from about 20 to late 50s too, not just elite athletes. It was great to see people challenge themselves, setting their own personal best and pushing themselves as hard as they could.

With the Redcar Beacon and the Palace Hub forming a colourful backdrop to some of the shots, the sun shone and the blue sky was contrast to the black wetsuits and lime green swimming caps distributed by the organisers. One of the joys of sports and event photography over the North East is all the contrasting colours people wear, whatever type of sport they are doing, that adds to the impact of the pictures.

Because I knew people would be spread out over the course and particularly for the shots of the swimmers, I had taken my latest piece of kit the 1.4x convertor along fixed to the Canon 70 -200mm F2.8 IS, which proved very useful. In total I had two camera bodies and a set of lenses in my lightweight bag, to give me a great choice at the edit stage. 

The whole event is done at speed and is over and done with in just over an hour so I had to work quickly to get all the pictures I wanted. The local press hailed the event a great success, and I was pleased to have captured the spirit of the occasion, and the efforts of the contestants.