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Robert Hillery – Ultraman, Marine

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Raise your hand if you have ever wanted to run a marathon? Large group of you I am sure.
How about a double marathon? Smaller group, but I know of a lot of you who race 50 and 100 milers.
Keep your hand up if you want to run a double marathon at the end of a three day race featuring 6.2 miles of swimming, 261 miles of biking, and 52.4 miles of running? Not too many of you left, less than 500 people in the world have completed such a race.

Now add a large 20 lb. American flag to the run portion to honor your fellow Marines by raising money for the Wounded Warrior Project. The only person left raising his hand to do that adventrure? Meet Robert Hillery. Ironman, Ultraman, Marine, American Hero.

These are the photos of Robert during the run portion of the course to demonstrate the courage and conditions:

Start of Day One

Few miles into the Run
About the 10K mark of the run
Through the first Marathon
Burst of Emotion at the Finish Line!
Getting Hugs from his crew while mother Mary Ann looks on
Speaking to the crowd after the Race at the Awards Dinner
Team Pain Junkies

I am left in shock and wonder at the spirit, courage and determination of Robert and all of the Ultraman Participants.

–JB

Thanksgiving Breakfast in Kona – Ultraman

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Another morning in Kailua starting at Lava Java, the bread there is great and the green tea keeps me going. After seeing Jason and Scott again for the third morning in a row, we headed over to the Outrigger Hotel for a Thanksgiving Breakfast and Race talk.

We grabbed the group photos, and did what we could to get team shots as well. For those of you who don’t know, each competitor has a minimum of 2 crew members present at all times during the race. Crews are the foundation of success for each participant.

Here are the photos, hope it illustrates the uniqueness of this race in terms of spirit and friendship.

Steve King Speaking
Shanna Armstrong in a Stetson
Cory in a Stetson from Lubbock
Race Director Jane and Competitor Jason
Competitor Group Shot
Peeps from Canada

Hawaii Day 2 – Ultraman

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Day Two started with a walk on the pier and a phone call with the wife. Then over to Lava Java for the needed caffeine and camaraderie. Athlete registration at the Outrigger Hotel, a mini-road trip with John, portraits back at the hotel, a screening of Bicycle Dreams (about RAAM), and then dinner at Kona Brew Pub for the third night in a row. Endurance athletes like their routines.

And now for the pictures

Sunrise at the Pier on Day Two

The Pier in Kailua on Day Two
Not a Tree that you would find in Texas. Alii Drive in Kailua
Mike De Roux going for his morning swim
Brazillian Competitor showing me his game face
Leslie Z. one of the crew members. Here at the Outrigger Hotel
A pound of Coffee from Lions Gate Farm. Shown here with the owner Suzanne at the Outrigger Hotel

Again, here are the athlete bio’s for the 2010 Ultraman Championship

Be sure to check out the Lions Gate Farms coffee page too

And we are off, Happy Thanksgiving!

Kona – Day One-ish – Travel

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It’s Day One although we technically got to the island the night before. Day it is then. Woke up way early, excited to get some sunrise shots on a day when I could. They need more processing than I have time for right now. But I will throw up some teasers.

Breakfast at Lava Java, errands during the day, phone call with the wifey, and now off to the Bike Clinic.

A couple of images to chew on:

About 20 minutes after waking up, and first shot of the day

Palm Trees at Sunrise
Allii Road and the Ocean Wall
Lava Java, the meetup place for Ultraman Crew and Competitors
Competitors Jason Sissel and Slater Fletcher

To learn more about these individuals, visit the Ultraman Website

More from Team Rogue Elite

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Team Rogue Setup Shots
(From left to right: Adam Perkins, Joe Thorne, Darren Brown, Kyle Miller)

First up, I remembered to take some setup shots so that I don’t have to draw cheesy diagrams in photoshop.

Second, these Team Rogue guys are F-A-S-T. I asked Coach Sisson if they would be moving quickly through my lighting zone. He said, “well, you won’t be able to tell the difference between their hard and easy, from 4:10 to 4:30 pace.” That, my friends, is hurtling through the bi-pedal atmosphere.

This weeks workout was at Zilker Park in downtown Austin, Texas. I wanted to get more essence of place than last weeks non-descript track. The skyline of downtown Austin would be awesome. The fog and haze prevented a clear view, but at least my strobes weren’t working overtime like last week.

Team Rogue Setup Shots

The runners were coming by from both sides of the road, running an out and back course. So I setup a modified triangle lighting. The flash to left had a 1/4 cto on it, and the middle side light had a blue gel. I should have put a warming gel on the far right side. The middle light was for rim lighting, and at some point I moved it across the street into the same position.

Not having an extra person around this week, I had to self test the light to make sure I had a decent exposure.

Team Rogue Setup Shots

I know that David Hobby uses his hand for this type of thing, and I usually do too, but I want to see how the gels would play on my noggin first.

When the guys and gals started their workout, I wanted to go low with a wide-ish angle and get close to get the feel of speed and still get some of the Austin Skyline. It worked okay for a single runner, but for the guys in the groups, the person closest to me would look good and the others would become obscured. The point of these photos is the team, so I switched to my trusty 70-200 and captured the Rogue’s as they came around turn 1.

Lots more from this group to come, including my favorite composite.

EDIT: HERE is the video link from the workout

JB