Tom Whitehurst

Nowhere to hide at Beach to Bay

The moment was so embarrassing that it only makes sense to share it with all of you.
   It's on the Internet now, anyway. So there's no point trying to hide this graphic depiction of myself sweating, panting, pumping, so close to finishing, so close to relief, so many people watching.
   The May 19 Beach to Bay Relay Marathon was like that for a lot of people. More than 8,000 runners participated. And whether they knew it or not, a Northern California-based company called Brightroom photographed the vast majority of them at the end of their run.
   Smile!
   If you were a team captain, like me, you received a brochure featuring photos of yourself and some of your teammates in the mail in the past week or two, along with a greeting suggesting that you and Brightroom were old friends:
   "Hi TOM! Brightroom has your race photos from the Beach to Bay Relay Marathon!"
   There were two tight shots, as if the Brightroom photographers had known to look for me, and there were similar shots of two of my teammates.
   We weren't the only ones. Jay Sutherland, a partner in Brightroom, estimates that his crew photographed 90 percent of the Beach to Bay runners. The company mailed solicitations to 1,350 team captains. Late last week, Brightroom had received orders from 50, which didn't sound like many. But Sutherland said it's an indicator that the company will get at least a 10 percent response, enough for a tidy profit.
   Procrastination
   Plus, it's early yet, and participants have until Aug. 1 to order, so the procrastination factor must be taken into account. Prices range from $13.29 for a 5-by-7-inch print to $40.66 for a package deal of two 4-by-6s, one 5-by-7 and one 8-by-10. There's a 10 percent discount for ordering off the company's Internet site, brigthtroom.com.
   To see oneself on a brochure, tailored to oneself, is both impressive and creepy. The entrepreneurship is commendable, and the technology that made it happen is a marvel. It's no shock that they can find me. But it was a surprise.
   Not to worry, Sutherland said. Part of the company's agreement with all events it covers is that it won't sell or share personal information about the participants, which means that Brightroom won't add to their spam and junk mail burden.
   Covering the event
   This was Sutherland's fourth Beach to Bay and his second as a Brightroom partner. Previously, he had his own company, Peacock Photography.
   A crew of six photographers shot photos at every handoff point and at the finish line - a logistical challenge that Sutherland said makes Beach to Bay special.
   At most events covered by Brightroom, the same athletes who start the event, finish it, so the company can just hang out at the finish line, if it's a marathon, or at the transition points if it's a triathlon.
   Sutherland, who lives in Dallas, started photographing marathons and triathlons for profit in 1994.
   He was a triathlete who thought it would be nice to have photos of himself from these events.
   And he figured that a lot of other athletes felt the same, and he figured right.
   His production was limited by his reliance on old technology - photo proofs and the U.S. mail - until Brightroom approached him.
   Combined forces
   Peacock and Brightroom each had something that the other didn't. Brightroom had the technological wherewithal to produce the photos overnight, identify the participants in the photos through race numbers and entrant lists, post them on the company's Internet site, and mail or e-mail solicitations to the participants.
   Peacock had established relationships with event organizers and a network of professional photographers.
   The union freed Sutherland and his team to more than quadruple the number of events they could cover.
   Last year they covered 50, and this year they expect to do 215.
   The company also provides photos to specialty publications, such as Runner's World and triathlon magazines.
   'The race face'
   There's an art to what Sutherland and his crew do. I, for one, had no idea that I was being photographed, and Sutherland wants it that way. The result is a personal, candid rather than posed shot of the moment.
   "We're very unobtrusive about what we do. We don't want the 'Hi Mom,' peace sign shot. We really want the race face.
   There's a tremendous amount of emotion and endorphins running through the body at that time, and that's what we want."
   And that's what I got.
   To see Brightroom's handiwork in general, log onto brightroom.com.
   To see me bringing in my personal worst, try www.brightroom.com/view_user_photo.asp?EVENTID=1104&ID=291623.
  
  

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