Sports

The latest news from Sydney-based photographer Richard McGibbon as he travels up and down the East coast of Australia covering athletes on adventures and high-action sports events and races.

24
Nov
2017
Kempsey Enduro: Superflow Championships

Kempsey Enduro: Superflow Championships

Last weekend Kempsey played host to the Superflow Enduro Championship.  Rocky Trail Entertainment has been running the Kempsey Enduro for 3 years now. It is one of my favourites as I get to go stay out at the beautiful Hungry Head campsite.

It was another great weekend of racing. Though a slightly smaller turnout there was lots of new faces on track. I even met a couple of fellows who had done the drive down from Queensland for it. Pre-race rain dampened Sunday a bit and brought the hordes of mosquitos out enmass. I often wonder what bloodsucking creatures like this eat when there is no photographer sitting in the bush.

It also means a little bit of exploring new spots on the way home. This year I stopped off Middle Brother on the way home and had a look around the Blackbutt forest. I spent the night at Seal Rocks, camped at Treachery with the dingos. I didn’t get to see them though I did see their paw prints in the sand on the dunes. From there I headed to the Bombah ferry Stopping off to see the tallest tree in NSW, a 76m flooded gum called Giantis. I crossed the ferry and down the coastal road to Tea Gardens and Hawksnest a nice little detour.

Posted by Richard in Bikes, Events
23
Oct
2017
Redass Downhill: Lithgow

Redass Downhill: Lithgow

The state finals of the NSW Redass Downhill were held a couple of weeks ago out on the Pony Club trail at Lithgow. It was a big weekend for me as it was on the back of a corporate race that we shot called The Great Adventure Challenge in the Royal National Park.

Whilst the rain held off for the Great Adventure Challenge it greeted us as we drove across the mountains on the way out to Lithgow. All things considered, though the rain was very welcome as it’s been months since we have seen any around Sydney way and to be honest it was more like a drizzle the any serious rain. Thankfully this type of rain doesn’t affect but it does offer a great atmosphere in which to shoot. I love shooting in this type of weather.

Most prosumer/professional cameras are perfectly weather-sealed and have no trouble being out in rain like this. The main thing to watch out for is getting raindrops on the lens as these will distort the picture. The use of a lens hood and remembering to keep the lens pointed down usually take care of this problem. If not a quick dab with a lens cloth sorts it out. There are numerous ways to protect your camera if the weather gets worse. I always have one OP/Tech rain sleeve in my bag just in case. Very simple to use and will still let me use flashes or triggers mounted on my camera. Otherwise, in a pinch most plastic bags will offer some amount of protection to be able to get the job done.

Posted by Richard in Bikes, Events
10
Sep
2017
Coastal Classic Trail Run

Coastal Classic Trail Run

Once again it was time for one of the trail runners favourite races, the Coastal Classic. It’s one of Sydney’s highest rated trail runs, taking runners along a beautiful stretch of coastline going through the Royal National Park. Being in a national park though the organisers, Maximum Adventure, cap the number of competitors and so it can be hard to get an entry as they sell out so quickly. The Coastal Classic completes the Thermatech Triple Challenge series which included the Jabulani in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park and Raffertys Coastal Run at Lake Macquarie on the NSW Central Coast.

Although the Coastal Classic may not be the longest of races it certainly presents a good challenge to those who take it on. The trail takes runners up and down the park’s headlands and onto the numerous sandy beaches along the coast of the Royal National Park . Unlike last year at this time, when there was torrential rain forcing the postponement of the race, we had a beautiful spring day, chilly in the morning but warming up nicely as the day progressed. Out on course I set 5 photographers, myself included, positioned to capture the beautiful coastal scenics and the runners enjoying the trails. There was around 1000 runners on course from all different skill levels, some there to run fast and put in the best time they can while others were taking their time and enjoy the day out.

The Triple Challenge has been a great series to cover. Next up for us in the trail running category will be the Bouddi challenge in October. A new race on the running circuit running through the Bouddi National Park on the Central Coast.

You can find the full gallery of Coastal Classic images here If you want to see the images from the other races of the triple challenge you can find the Jabulani images here and Raffertys Coastal Run images here

Posted by Richard in Events, Trail Running
31
Aug
2017
Stromlo Weekend

Stromlo Weekend

I like Canberra. I never used to but it has grown on me over the years. I still have no idea how to get to anywhere except Mt. Stromlo but I’m getting there. I don’t often get down there in Summer and I am not so sure those scorching hot dry days would suit me so well but, being a winter person, the cold blustery days suit me just fine.

I arrived late on the Friday afternoon and caught the sunset. With the sun going down so too was the temperature. Martin from Rocky Trail set up a gas heater inside the marquee and we chatted and ate dinner. I crawled off to bed early, keen to get wrapped up in the warmth of my sleeping bag. At some point in the wee hours of the morning the temperature went sub-zero

Saturday:
I awoke to a thick frost covering the car. The chill made it hard to get up. It was the final round of the Shimano GP series though and I have been shooting this series for a few years now. Stromlo is one of my favourites on the circuit there are some great views to be had around the hill.

A couple of hundred people turned out for the race. I got out onto a new section of track on the backside called slippery rock. Although i say new the track itself is old but its new to the race and new for me to shoot. I made my way upward shooting at various locations along the way. At the top of the section I was greeted with a great open vista across to the Brindabella range to the west.

Sunday:
Day dawned warmer but soon cooled off as a cold wind set in. Today it was the Elite Sprint Cup, a new race for, as the name suggests, some of the top names in the Australian XC racing scene. The course was only 2kms long and as I was here to shoot editorials rather than competitor shots I found myself running around a lot more trying to cram in as many shots and locations as I could in the short time. Thankfully it was a nice compact track. One of the things I love about Canberra at this time is the golden blooms of wattle And this short course ran straight through one of the finest stands of wattle trees at Stromlo. It also ran across the 4 cross track and so I found myself running between the 2 sections each lap. It was great to see the impressive pace these athletes all kept up.

The rain moved in as we were packing up. I heard mention that it was snowing 10kms up the road in the hills so I took a short detour (completely in the wrong direction) and dashed up into the Brindabellas. I had all the weather on the way there rain followed by hail followed by sunshine followed by snow. As I near the top of the range the snowfall became quite heavy and started to sit on the road. Since I realised I was no longer going around corners but rather more drifting around them I turned back down the hill and decided to start the long drive home

Posted by Richard in Bikes, Events, Places
24
Jun
2017
True Grit 2017

True Grit 2017

A couple of weekend ago I went and covered perhaps the toughest race that I have covered to date, True Grit. True Grit is a military inspired obstacle race held over a 10km or so track. What makes it so tough though is that there is also a smaller True Grit run in conjunction which is a punishing 24hr obstacle race and is also the Australian Titles. It was the 24hr part that I came to cover.

Heavy rain preceded the event and was forecast to continue over the weekend. I got out onto course just after the main race from day 1 finished up. I started out with the closest obstacles, a rope crossing and a 10ft wall climb. On the wall climb team work or help from strangers went a long way to getting up and over. A last gasp from the weather and the rain hammered down for an hour or so. Thankfully the Canon gear is pretty well waterproof throw on an OP Tech rain sleeve and an umbrella in between competitors goes along way to keeping the gear dry. 

One section was called the muddy mile but due to the rain was more like a mile walking through a river. The muddy mile finished with having to duck under some barbed wire however around 3 in the morning the wire duck had to be closed off due to the river rising and covering the barbed wire.

I got so wrapped up in shooting that my night went way longer than expected. I grabbed an hour and a half sleep but think that I shot for around 20 out of the 24hr race. Its events like this that I love. Night shooting always adds an extra dimension and there is just so much variety in things going on to shoot

If you think this is up your alley you can check out all the details and get involved with the event when it next comes around over at the True Grit website here. They also run the standard True Grit in other cities around Australia.

Posted by Richard in Adventure Racing, Events
06
Jun
2017
A Right Royal Adventure Race

A Right Royal Adventure Race

Last weekend saw 2 days of adventure racing through the Royal National Park in Sydney’s South East. The event sports a variety of disciplines that sees athletes mountain biking, trail running, orienteering and kayaking through some of the parks fabulous scenery.

This was round 3 of Paddy Pallin‘s Adventure Series. The first one for the series was Cam’s Wharf near Newcastle then it went up to Queensland for round 2 and later in the year the 4th and final round will be in Glenbrook in the lower Blue Mountains.

Both days started off chilly down by the edge of the Hacking river but as the sun broke through things warmed up a bit. Sunday was a fantastic day for racing and being out and about. Saturday remained a bit cloudy but was fantastic light for photography with the clouds creating a one big soft box effect.

Here’s a few highlights from the race below.

Posted by Richard in Adventure Racing, Events, 0 comments