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| Happy to finish a 26mile hike for charity ! |
Slowly things are returning to normal, as the unlocking continues, and as I write this we have one more week before the government will make a decision on the unlocking policy for the 21st of June. With cases doubling every week for the past three weeks (yes that's exponential) - I'm not expecting the full unleashing any time soon, hard as it is for those still not back to work properly or delaying celebrations. Having had 13 months of no work - we all know the difficulty of the situation.
In the time being - we need to make the most of things as they are - with Covid secure protocols at races - which means waved starts and mostly trail races and social distancing. To be honest - it's quite nice being in the middle of the countryside in nice weather doing the photography bit of the business hard work. Busy finish lines and loud music, generators and people shouting support over my shoulder into me ear - are not being missed for the time being...
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| Proper starting positions |
We had the first of the Macmillan Mighty Hikes last week on the south coast from Brighton to Eastbourne - with a half marathon and marathon distance - almost 2000 participants - estimated to raise at least £800,000 by the end of the day for their efforts - an absolutely fantastic amount. We were busy delivering live images on the day direct to everyone - using the pic2go system - barcodes on show meant everyone was getting their personalised gallery for fundraising and showing off their achievements within moments of finishing - they already had all their start photos before they reached half way !
All the pictures are delivered with that iconic Macmillan text font and colour - so everyone looks like a proper Macmillan rockstar - as they were ! Pictures like these really help people with their fundraising efforts - the power of an image makes all the difference - proof of the participation !
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| That first length of the Mid Sussex Tri swim |
This sunday has been a different work exercise with the Mid Sussex Triathlon setting off over 260 on their lane zig-zag swim, bike ride and 5k run. It's the nearest event to my house - so I can wing it at 6am to leave home for a 6:45 race start. Covid protocol for the waved swimming to ensure we didn't get a lot of long internal poolside queues meant a lot more careful marshalling and planning for the event, with grouped wave starts, introducing dead time for transition so everyone had space and time to get sorted, and making sure everyone could keep their safe distances.
It did however mean the first finishers were coming in before everyone had swum their first length of the pool - so I apologise to those I missed as I had to move ! It is quite unique because of their swim method (16 lengths - just go up and down then dip across each of the 8 lanes to get 400m) it means I can get a shot of each swimmer - all they have to do is breath on their left so I can see their faces - at the correct moment. You wouldn't believe the number of swimmers who don't seem to need to breathe on their first length !
Free Photos for all at the Mid Sussex Tri
It always has been a free photo event - and that's just one of the many reasons that we like it - if you took part - then the gallery is here: https://sspimg.com/Mid-Sussex-Tri-2021-Gallery
Just "order" the free downloads selected into your order basket and checkout for free !
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| It was very safe with lots of distancing |
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| Well timed breathing for the photo |
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| well timed smiling for the photo ! |
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| stretch and breathe |
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| stretch, glide and breathe |
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| Telephone call ? |
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| Two more laps |
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| Hello ! |
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| Another two laps ! |
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| Good to be out on the bike |
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| Strong ! |
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| Pulling on those handlebars |
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| Two or maybe three more laps |
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| Strong finishing |
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| Happy Sunglass weather |
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| Taking the crowd salute |
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| Ben getting some air |
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| Proper double thumbs ! |
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| For the team finish ! |
Seriously well done to everyone in making this event happen - the extended swim wave starts to the race briefing online as well as the careful marking out - all managed to make it an excellent mornings event (if a little early). Thank you for booking the weather too. It is truly one of the great club events every year.
Next Events for your diary of desire
All events have free race photo downloads - some (most) will be live during the day (with that pic2go technology stuff)! Some events are almost full - so don't miss out and get entered. Many have covid delay guarantees too so you won't miss out if the laws change. NB No weddings are allowed during events.
Check out the 2021 race galleries - here
Forecasting and computer simulation modelling of races for Covid safe starts
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| Race density for social distancing and wave start simulation |
Whilst it is good for understanding and having a broad knowledge of the unravelling Delta variant, I can say that following the various Epidemiologists on SAGE and the alternative SAGE bodies is as depressing as it has become predictable.
As once described - our Prime Minister is a man who waits to see what direction the troops are running and then rushes to the front to say follow me! I fear this is what we are again awaiting - for uncontrolled doubling week on week cases until the numbers are big enough to scare him into closing the barn door too late, and then he will do the minimum he can and call it later than everyone else was telling him to whilst telling everyone it's their fault for not getting vaccinated.
At the time of writing - a few hours before the next announcement I expect the delay to unlocking to be put back at least until the schools are on holiday - that way avoiding causing extra toll on parental duties. I do worry about the Delta variants transmissibility in the young. If the cases are rising - then surely the weight of evidence is to lock down tighter - not to just pause unlocking further. Why can't politicians understand this. Give it 4 weeks and we will be back at January 2021 with it doubling each time. Last time I checked - 40% of the population being able to get ill can still cause a pandemic. Anyway, I digress...
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| Working out how a Half and a 10k with different routes can all fit through the pinch point ! |
On the upside of it all I have been using some computer simulation software (Anylogic.com) to help a friend doing some Covid related forecasting (on the grim side of hospital stats unfortunately at the start of this year) because back then - we had no work, however it's such good software it can actually be used for more race relevant activities like simulating mass starts at races or wave starts to see how crowded and congested they will get at various pinch points on the course. As well as running simulations of the overall race and if different race distances on different routes will clash or not when they return to the start - again - avoiding pinch points becoming a problem. (I used to use similar software to do manufacturing and factory simulations for process improvement, and then for business process improvement in financial services - it's all quite similar).
Races need to be able to get approval from their Councils SAG (Safety Advisory Group), so if they have some good computer modelling and data to back up their plans to avoid a potential problem - it helps ensure they can put on their race and that you can go to it ! Simple other things like predicted road opening times are important for the overall logistics of a day (and the councils agreement!) or indeed working out if running the course in the opposite direction helps the flow of the two different races.
We also need to be able to do this to work out our photography coverage - if a mass normal start happens - from experience we know how long to be at point A early on the course and when to move to point B later on the route. But with waved starts, or queued control starts - can you even move during a race if it takes 45minutes to start the race ? And how busy does it get ? - is it possible to be at a different point that might be more scenic later on ? All important questions - honestly !
So there we go - another service from your friendly photography company that you didn't know you needed - I might start having to make this a standalone product (but I won't tell you where to put your photographers). Race safety and crowd modelling requirements ? Get in touch...
ah...I've just seen the announcement on the not-unlocking date.
So with all that, and now having heard that we have extended the time to reducing restrictions, instead of actually re-tightening restrictions to reduce the Delta Variant transmission - I'm sorry to have to report that in four weeks time we will be at around 1600 cases a day going into hospital - and yes 4% of those will die, and yes we are already locked into that trajectory for at least the next two weeks - especially if nothing further happens to change behaviour and the vaccine roll speed out remains as it is. It's the poor buggers with long covid that I feel really sorry for - and that's another 4% of the cases.
So, keep safe until next time, please !
Anthony
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