Sydney Coastrek 2021, 19th March 2021
I was recently approached by the team from Wild Women on Top to provide photography and videography services for their Sydney Coastrek event. Coastrek is an amazing event, raising funds for Beyond Blue, with participants either choosing to do a 60km walk (Palm Beach to Middle Head), 30km walk (Long Reef to Middle Head) or 15km walk (North Harbour to Middle Head).
The event brief called for a mix of on-course shots that could be used for future marketing material, website material etc, plus finish line photos for each of the ~3000 participants. Covering the event was going to be a significant logistical challenge given the length of the course and the tendency for teams to spread out. Some teams were expected to run the 60km event in around 7 hours, whilst others would be out there slogging away for the full 18 hour time limit. I put together a team of three photographers and one videographer to cover the event.
Coastrek is a photographers dream, with an endless number of amazing scenic shots on offer as the course meanders its way along the very best coastline of Sydney’s Northern Beaches. As long as the weather is fine……
Pre-event……Rain, rain go away
In the weeks leading up to the event I had scoped out a bunch of different shooting locations using a combination of Google Maps and on-site reconnaissance, and combined my ideas with some ideas from the legends at Wild Women on Top to put together a shot list that I could split up between the three photographers.
The weather forecast for event day was looking pretty grim, with up to 70mm of rain predicted throughout the day! We would be there shooting no matter what the weather, so in addition to my usual rain cover for my camera gear and rain jacket, I ventured out to purchase a set of rain pants and some very sexy gumboots. If we were going to get hammered with rain, I was going to do my best to be comfortable.
Rain wouldn’t be stopping these ladies, and it certainly wouldn’t be stopping us!
The packing list for this type of event is pretty extensive, and because I would be working out the back of my car the entire day leapfrogging the competitors I didn’t really have to worry too much about the weight of my bag.
Gear list:
2x Canon 5Dmk3 bodies
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 II IS - My go-to lens for all events.
Canon 16-35mm f/4 IS - From my pre-event reconnaissance, I knew some of the walking tracks would be too tight to use the 24-70, so something wider was required.
Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 G2 - This is usually my go-to walk around lens for events. As it turns out, it didn’t get used at all! More on that below.
Sigma 150-600mm f/5.6 - Usually my go-to surf photography lens, not usually something that I’d take along with me to many events, but I had planned out a bunch of long telephoto shots down some of the beaches and this would be the perfect lens for it.
DJI Mavic Air - This was going to be the key to some of the spectacular scenic shots I had planned
Lighting - Godox V1, Godox AD200 Pro, Godox X-Pro trigger - We were going to be shooting before the sun came up, and would be shooting until midnight. One of the other photographers had a set of Profoto B1’s to turn the finish line into something resembling the surface of the sun, but I needed something a bit more portable.
Assorted light stands, tripod, monopod, and a days worth of food + coffee.
Event Day
It was a 4 am alarm for me, allowing me to make it to the start line of the 60km event at Palm Beach just after 5 a.m. The volunteers and event staff were already busy getting everything set up, with the first competitors due to head off at 6 a.m. I grabbed a few quick shots, but left one of the other photographers to capture all the start line action. My mission was clear…..trek up to the lighthouse on top of the headland and pray for a sunrise. It thankfully wasn’t raining, but heavy cloud cover and a sun that wasn’t due to rise until 6:57 a.m. had me less than hopeful.
As I got to the top of the headland, I could see the headlamps glittering in the darkness along the beach as the first 60km competitors got started on their long journey. It was an interesting trek to the top of Barrenjoey Headland by myself in the pitch dark. If nothing else, at least I had cleared the track of all the overnight spiderwebs…..
They’re out there somewhere!
I waited at the top of the headland for the first competitors to arrive. It was dark, and continued to be dark as the competitors rolled through. The sun made a couple of weak attempts to peek out from behind the clouds, but it was clear that nothing spectacular was going to happen. I grabbed a couple of shots, and then admitted defeat and started heading back down the path. When I got halfway down I turned around to take one of my pre-planned wide scenic shots and then I saw it…the bloody sun had finally cut through the clouds.
It was at this moment that I realised the bloody sun was finally starting to show itself….back up the hill I go!
I chucked my camera bag into the bushes, took one body and my 16-35mm lens with me and hauled myself back up the track to the lighthouse. Competitors were still rolling through and I managed to capture a couple of shots with a rising sun, and a couple more on the way back down the track.
Worth it!
From Palm Beach, I was on the move to Avalon. I had one simple shot planned here, a telephoto shot down the beach from the carpark. Whilst I waited for the competitors to start coming down the beach we got the first sprinkling of rain, but still nothing compared to what was predicted. By this time the 30km competitors were at Long Reef, being covered by one of my other photographers.
Planning is the key with these types of events. There isn’t time to be doing to much “winging it”.
The 30km trekkers starting their walk at Long Reef got a dusting of rain. Photo: Joe Kennedy
The participants were prepared for all conditions! Photo: Joe Kennedy
I won’t bore you with stories from the rest of the day, it is really a tale of leapfrogging, trying to time my movements so that I wasn’t always capturing the lead competitors. From mid-afternoon, my other two photographers were manning the finish line, ensuring that every team got a finish line photo. The movements throughout the day were a surprising challenge, because throughout the whole day I knew I needed to make sure I was at North Harbour by 5 p.m. to capture the 15km competitors. After that, I made a couple more stops before meeting up with the other photographers at the finish line.
Participants continued to stream in well into the evening, turning into a trickle after 10 p.m. We had always said we would be there until the last team crossed the finish line, and that moment came shortly before midnight. The vibe throughout the whole event had been amazing, a true testament to the culture of Coastrek and Wild Women on Top. Everyone was so supportive and so friendly, with some very emotional finish line moments as participants realised the enormity of what they had achieved.
The finish line vibes were unlike anything I’ve experienced at other events! Photo: Luke Walker
Shooting at night presented an opportunity to try some second-curtain sync shots….without trying to scare participants with the flash!
As the last team crossed the finish line and the event team all enjoyed a sneaky prosecco, the heavens finally decided to open up. Somehow we had got through the entire day with only a sprinkling of rain. It had been overcast and very windy throughout the day, which really limited some of the scenic shots I had planned. In particular, it was too windy to put the drone up in many of the locations that I had in mind, but I’m proud of the photos that we all managed to capture and I feel that they truly reflect the camaraderie, energy and amazing atmosphere of the event.
Post-event
I had delivered a handful of shots to the event team throughout the day for social media purposes, but the main deliverables were due a few days after the event. I had personally shot just over 1000 photos for the day, and in total the team had shot just over 5000 with the bulk of those being at the finish line. The event team had provided a great list of key deliverables, which made culling photos easy albeit still time consuming! In total we delivered just under 800 bulk competitor finish line photos and 300 key deliverable photos covering scenic shots, sponsors/partners, key branding, volunteers, and “hero” competitor shots.
All-in-all, it was an extremely long day but it was an extremely rewarding day. Like all large assignments, there are a few things I would do differently if I am given the opportunity to cover the event again, but on the whole it was a huge success. It was an amazing event to be a part of, and if there are any keen walkers out there I could not recommend Coastrek more highly!
https://www.coastrek.com.au/events-sydney