To view and download my photos from all events at the Kansas City Qualifier, click here. Please provide photo credit if sharing on social media (ideally, “📸: @koolgurl69 • westcoastrunner.com”).
West Coast Runner is a photo journal dedicated to chronicling the lifestyle of sub-elite athletes from California, Oregon, and Washington–so, while I had the honor of taking photos of all events at the meet, here I will focus on just representing the experience of a couple of those athletes. I will also be posting my favorite photos from the rest of the meet on my Instagram page.
May 1, 2021. 5:20pm. Leavenworth, Kansas.
As former high school rivals from the Northern California circuit, current training partners Annie and Bridget could never have predicted that life would take them to a track meet together in small town Kansas, but life—like running—is full of surprises.
This weekend Trials of Miles and Citius Mag invited some of track & field’s finest rising stars to America’s heartland to chase dreams and time standards on a balmy evening evocative of summer. Heading into the developmental heat of the women’s 5000m, Annie and Bridget’s feelings were marked by gratitude: Gratitude for a long-awaited racing opportunity, gratitude for the capacity to fly across the country from their homes in San Francisco to the event, and–importantly–gratitude for the ability to do so together.
Of course, however, the weather gods don’t give a damn about gratitude. At close to 80 degrees with 20 mile per hour wind gusts, personal records weren’t in the cards for the afternoon session at the track meet. Nonetheless, Annie and Bridget were mostly satisfied with competitive finishes that suggested highly promising results in better conditions.
Sometimes in this sport that’s all we can ask for.
