We’ve been quiet for a while but one thing that gets us moving anytime is a race on Box Hill. Especially if it’s a race on the first morning of the year – gives you a good excuse to not party too much (first resolution)… and in case this doesn’t work out you always have that option of shattering the next New Year’s resolution to pieces – waking up on time. Only a few hours into the New Year and here you go, a couple of useless resolutions crossed off the list already!

Thankfully we made it on time to see the mad crowd gathered in the cold drizzle on top of Box Hill, ready to face another challenging year. After a race like this I’m sure the rest of the year will look like a walk in a park. Fast, mad and happy New Year everyone!

UPDATE 1: Looks like Flickr search is having hiccups so until they get back to normal you can browse all our photos from Knacker Cracker 2011 on Flickr.

UPDATE 2: While we are still waiting for Flickr to sort out their search we have some good news for you. Knacker Cracker is no ordinary race and to enjoy it even more we brought some no ordinary equipment with us this time – and old medium film camera (Mamiya C3 for those who are into it).

Not to mention it felt in place there being quite knackered it has many more things in common – it’s heavy, it’s definititely not meant for sport (photography) and it’s a lot of fun.

Here are a couple of shots 42run labs were busy with last night. Let us know if you can spot yourself there, we like these shots so much we’ll send a real-old-school paper copy for anyone who can find themselves in these photos. Have fun!

(Click on the B&W photos for hi-res versions on Flickr)

UPDATE 3: Flickr API is back up and you can finally find your photos by searching for your bib number in the search box at the top. And the photos are free. Happy days!

In case you haven’t noticed – we’re back.

Bigger, faster and snappier than ever before.

Yesterday we covered TreeAthlon in Battersea Park. A fantastic race for a charity you simply can’t ignore – Trees for Cities, a charity planting trees in urban areas all over the world.

TreeAthlon is very close to our heart not only because it’s a beautiful race, it was our first ever race in 2008, it has never rained during the race and they’re breaking Guiness World Records running barefoot… Going there for the 3rd time means we are 3 years old!

We thank all our contributors and fans for the tremendous support we have enjoyed so far – you are the ones who keep us going.

We have a lot of things planned for the new season so spread the word, it’s easy to keep in touch – we’re on twitter, facebook and flickr.

Signup for the low-volume-spam-free specials newsletter and you’ll always be the first to know what we’re up to.

Most of the TreeAthlon photos are now on our BETA service for you to buy and support Trees for Cities. Most runners had their numbers on the back so finding your photos among the other 2000 might be a bit tricky this time but we tried to make it as simple as possible to browse all of them here.

We are working hard on updating our website so if you notice anything unusual, have a question or simply want to say hi – leave a comment or email us at info@42run.com .

This post will be updated once all of the photos are uploaded.

Photographer

Another cold and windy day. The sky is dark – ISO set to 800 and it’s almost midday, fingers are freezing and it’s the last day of spring. Thousands of runners whizzing past, breaking their records, smiling to the cameras, waving their friends. Only they know why they’re out in this cold, running in the middle of London, instead of enjoying the Bank Holiday. Oh, and if you’d only listen to them – the weather was great… the crowds were fantastic… can’t feel my legs… will definitely do it again next year… And they do, we recognise the same faces year after year and race after race I’m left puzzled, what is it that they like about this whole…running thing.

In search of the answer we snapped some photos that hopefully help see the world through runners’ eyes

An unmissable event in our race calendar – no train delays or weather forecasts could stop us from going to see the hundreds of runners dressed up as anything from the crazy racer Mario to a washing machine. The race was truly heroic – runnning in the strong wind and and cold, drizzling rain didn’t look like fun but hundreds of wonder women, supermen and other heroes were smiling all the way.

We did our best to identify the runners with obscured numbers as the superheroes but it looks we’re not watching enough cartoons these days so feel free to leave a comment if you find a hero we didn’t know.

We are working hard on our BETA platform and getting ready to invite more photographers to try it out. Sign up on our list if you want to be among the first to hear once the service goes live and we start accepting more photographers to the growing 42run community.

Please note that we are integrating our free and paid-for photo search together but in the meantime our BETA service search is separate so please use the search at the top on the BETA page to find your Heroes Run photos

The Hero List:

• bananaman
• batman
• batwoman
• buzz_lightyear
• captain_america
• catwoman
• chaos
• dangermouse
• dog
• duff
• elvis
• felix
• flash
• flashman
• harry_potter
• hulk
• incredibles
• kill_bill
• lara_croft
• mario
• mr_neutron
• mr_testicles
• ninja_turtle
• ninja
• nun
• prada devil
• robin
• santa
• silversurfer
• washing machine
• spiderman
• spongebob
• super_nancy
• super_sparky
• superchamp
• superjack
• superman
• superwoman
• tweetie
• wolverine
• wonder_woman
• zoro

UPDATE: 42run BETA commercial service is now live!

Our marathon photos are being prepared and will be uploaded on Monday. Thousands of photos to go through but it will be worth it – here’s a sneak peak of what’s to come:

What had to be the warmest day of the week met us with freezing wind and gave another reason for the runners to do their best – to at least warm up a bit after shivering at the start.  The queue at what seemed like the only cafe open in town at this time was long enough to miss the first runners finishing but a warm cupa looked irresistable.

Here’s a photo to those who we didn’t catch this time – I’m pretty sure you are somewhere between the others.

Today we are out covering Reading Half Marathon 2010. When covering the event last year we saw some amazing supporters and expect to see even more of them as well as thousands of runners enjoying this popular race.

The photos will be up by the evening and if you are still browsing our site trying to make sure the photos are free – yes they are! This weekend is Sport Relief weekend – if you like our photos go and donate to Sport Relief on their official website.

Today we covered another sunny spring race in beautiful Wimbledon. It’s wonderful to see the spring all around – runners smiling, waiving, shouting and jumping.. oh and yes, running as well.

42run is growing stronger and stronger with more and more photographers sharing their photos with the runners. Since last weekend 12 photographers have contributed their photos from Milton Keynes Half Marathon, Eastbourne Half Marathon and the latest race added to our list – Bath Half Marathon 2010.

We are absolutely delighted to have them sharing their photos on 42run and helping runners find those precious snaps of themselves. Here are some of the best photos from Bath Half Marathon 2010 added to 42run this week:


Photo by Lee “Pulitzer” Pullen

Photo by Andy Clist

Photo by  Griff007

Photo by Mark Draisey Photography

Photo by JimphotosofBath

Photo by steventoogood53

Photo by j2nd70

Photo by mawhite24

Photo by sunface13

Photo by V1ckyS

Adrian Carey has shared some fantastic shots from the sunny Eastbourne Half Marathon on 42run. Although the weather looked just as good at Milton Keynes where we covered MK Half on Sunday, there was one thing in Eastbourne you can’t beat – the sea. Photos from the race look like holiday snaps (in the very best way) – sun, sea and some people running, if only every Sunday was like this…