Non-Matt Muddy Buddy

The job of Athletic Supporter requires standing around with a camera ready to capture whatever action is happening with the athlete you are there to support. Because I have so few opportunities to capture the athlete and so many opportunities to capture everyone else, I inevitably come home with a lot of pictures of the athlete and then even more pictures without the athlete that I just like.  Here’s a tour of the Muddy Buddy, without Matt.

So the “buddy” aspect of the race means there are a lot of “twins” outfits.  This is fun.
 

The race itself had people walking around taking photos.
 

The “buddy” aspect of the race means two people are often doing the same thing at the same time.
 

Two of the photo people.
 

One of the better male outfits.  Way to embrace the chest hair!
 

This man doesn’t know it, but he’s an Athletic Supporter, too!
 

The blue line registers the athletes start when their chips cross over.
 

This guy reminded me a bit of Julie McCoy from Love Boat.
 

There were two other guys with Julie McCoy hyping up the crowd at the start, though it looks like there’s about to be a fight.
 

I think this lady is not an Athletic Supporter, because she was standing on the side where normal spectators weren’t.  I think she might have been with the male announcer.
 

She kind of looked a bit bored.
 

This photographer’s efforts to get the kids to cheer resulted in the kid in the red running back to his mother.   Which resulted in me laughing.
 

Fans!  Much more so than the woman checking her phone.
 

Waiting to start.
 

This blue mat is not quite right.
 

South Salem High School’s ROTC were the volunteers.  There were two guys who had to stop people from walking across the course when athletes were coming through.  It was a tough job and I was interested in the contrast between their ROTC role, their job stopping clueless people, and the demeanor they projected.  I faced this guy, so got more photos of him than the other one.  I tried my best to capture all of the above, but I don’t think I did.
 

 

 

These guys had the fun job of pulling people over the wall, which was sprayed in fabric softener to make it even more slippery.
 

A younger competitor waiting for his partner.
 

Both of these women wore shirts that said, “I will step on you to win.”  They were a bit scary, though less so, post shower.
 

Done showering.  Just wait!  These guys will appear again.
 

We were at Kruger’s Farm.  There were chickens.
 

First place already!
 

I loved this interaction between Kate, the owner of our gym, and her race partner.
 

Heh.  This team placed in the coed category.
 

Hey!  It’s the guys from before!  Being weighted as part of the “Beast” category (Over a combined 450 pounds). I liked the interplay between all these people.  This is my favorite picture I took.
 

They turned out to be the winners!