Guy's Urban Challenge 2019

The Challenge takes place every year near the end of September with the goal of raising as much as possible for Guy’s and St. Thomas’ and the Evelina Children’s Hospital. I was there as nearly 300 participants took on London’s most popular urban triathlon, making the day a great success.

This high adrenaline event asks a lot of its participants, with a 2.4km run, a 15km spin cycle and ending with a 29 floor stair climb to the top of Guy’s Tower (Europe’s tallest hospital building)! There’s even an ultra version for those who want to double their run time and cycle for longer. It’s a huge achievement for anyone who takes part. Perhaps the best part of this well run event is the very real sense of community and support that exists among those taking part. I certainly felt it as I snapped throughout the day. These are families who are doing something very personal and important to them and I salute them for it.

Sing For Water in London with Water Aid

A beautiful sunny day and hundreds of voices singing in a London amphitheatre. The location was The Scoop at More London, with the imposing site of Tower Bridge in the background. This was a fabulous day, an annual celebration of soaring choral voices to help raise funds for the work of Water Aid. Sing For Water takes part in different cities every year and I’ve been fortunate to capture the London event once again this year. Some of the joyful and colourful sights of the day can be found below …

The Virgin London Marathon 2019

Every year gets bigger and better. I’ve written about the London marathon before, including a lengthy piece on how I best try to capture it., so i won’t get into all that again. I will share a few thoughts and shots though.

This year I was with the terrific team from Water Aid UK at their cheer point on the Victoria Embankment (about mile 24.5). It felt a bit more crowded among the runners this year than last. Shooting the marathon successfully is all about your view. Spending five hours tight against a railing, body swivelled to the left from the hips up and staring through an eyepiece almost all the time is not the easiest or most comfortable position. But it is the job and you get on with it. For me, the worst bit is having to shout out to fellow cheerers to maybe keep their hands or pom-poms or clackers or whatever their cheering with out of the line of the lens. I really dislike being a bossy boots when people are just cheering on as they should be. But I’d risk losing all chance of decent images if I didn’t make a few “requests”.

With only about 50 or so runners to spot this year the pressure was on not to miss too many, especially those that were not obscured or actually spotted us and waved. Fortunately we did ok. The cheerers were amazing and the runners, obviously, inspirational! I am always amazed and impressed with everyone’s effort on marathon day and this year was no exception.