My history with the Arc of Attrition only goes back two editions when it was taken over by UTMB and I was asked to shoot it. Even in that short time it has grown dramatically; an extra race distance, a bigger event village, more runners and an extra day to spread the races out over the full weekend.
From a coverage point of view spreading the races out over that extra day really helped each one shine in its own right. It was nice to make the most of the Sunday sun as well!

Back at the Friday start for the 100 miler I was based at the finish/event village where runners would register before being transported to the start. I was once again working alongside Will and Harriet, two excellent Cornwall based photographers who were a huge help throughout the event with scenic location and parking intel.

Once the 100 mile runners had been loaded onto the buses and set off to the start line I took some time to edit my morning's shots before heading out to intercept them on the course. With the race not starting until 1pm and the sun setting by 5pm there wasn't a huge amount of time to catch runners before the light went.

I had a few locations in mind but with the limited daylight time I realised I'd be better off trying to catch the runners as early on in the race as possible. A quick look on OS Maps and I settled on Predannack Wollas, just south of Mullion, which had a conveniently close National Trust car park. I had no idea what the location was like but in my limited experience of the coastline down there you don't have to go too far to find a scenic cove or dramatic cliffs.

A short walk from the car park and I emerged onto the coast path above Ogo-dour Cove. The wind had been picking up steadily through the day and huge waves were crashing against the rocks and cliffs below me. I had a bit of time before the first runners reached me so I set off to explore the area. I headed south first; the path was mostly closed in by plants and it was hard to find an angle which would show the cove in the background. The north side was much more interesting; a steep, muddy descent down to a stream crossing, then a steep muddy climb onto an open headland looking straight down across the cove.

I got lucky with a few minutes of beautiful, golden light breaking through the clouds just as the first runners came through.

With so many options and a steady stream of runners I had a very productive time at Predannack before I called it a day and headed off to my next location. I headed to Porthleven, where I'd scouted some potential shots on Google Street View. I may have stayed a bit too long at Predannack as it was pretty much dark by the time I reached Porthleven but it's hard to tear yourself away from a location where so much is going on.

It turned out that Porthleven would be the place where it was all going on though. I'd skipped past it last year so I wasn't prepared for how busy it would be or how hard it would be to find a parking space. I ended up heading down the cobbled harbour road, away from the crowds around the aid station. Luckily this was right next to where I'd planned to shoot runners as they came past the Bickford-Smith Institute building with its large clock tower. Streetlights helped illuminate runners in the fading light and I just barely managed to get the whole building in the frame with my widest lens.

I could see runners across the other side of the harbour running up the road as they left the aid station so decided to drive round to that side to the top of the hill and then make my way down towards the aid station.

The wind had been building all day and was bringing some heavy rain with it which would become Storm Ingrid. Porthleven checkpoint was where runners would prepare themselves for the long, hard night that lay ahead of them. The tent was heaving with bodies already soaked through and freezing, desperately trying to warm up before heading out again, crew bustling to get their runners fresh socks and shoes and volunteers dishing out soup and snacks and refilling bottles.

By the time I left the aid station and headed back out into the storm it was clear the tide had come in and the waves crashing against the harbour walls were now crashing over them. As I headed up the north side of the harbour a floodlight illuminating the side of a pub was perfect to highlight the runners against the village behind them.

Across the harbour I could still see runners making their way into Porthleven along the cobbled road I'd been parked at earlier. Thankfully I'd moved as this was now getting regularly swamped by waves coming over the walls. I made my way back round to the south side to get some shots there, no convenient pub floodlights here but some amber streetlights provided just enough light to pick out the details of the scene.

I was now soaked and so was my kit, I had thought about going up to Penzance but I didn't think I'd get anything better than I had at Porthleven and I'd be better off getting back to the hotel and drying off my cameras.

I started the next morning at the Minack Theatre for the start of the 50 mile race. An unconventional but undoubtedly beautiful and unique start location for a race. The wind had continued relentlessly through the night but fortunately the rain had abated. With three waves setting off over the course of an hour I had three opportunities to shoot the start from different angles which is great because the Minack Theatre offers a lot of different angles.

From the start line my next stop was the finish line. It seems counter-intuitive but that's sometimes the way with multiple races going on at the same time. Harriet and Will were out on course and would be catching the 50 mile runners, I'd be at the finish to catch the top three women in the 100 and then the top three men in the 50.

Previously the 25 mile race had been run on the Saturday too which had made for a bit of a mad scramble to catch the start, middle and finish of that while the 50 and 100 were also ongoing. With that race now moved to the Sunday it made for a slightly less stressful Saturday and I had a some time to do some editing and uploading for UTMB.

Having spent the entire day at either a start or finish line I had some itchy feet to get out on the course in the dark. I had brought some lights and had some rough ideas of shots I might like to get but my rustiness with night photography, lack of knowledge of the area and gale force winds that blew over anything not nailed to the ground and made long exposures almost impossible made for a very frustrating two hours where nothing really materialised that I was happy with.

A night landscape shot of Hell's Mouth was the best I could manage. I had hoped to get some longer light trails of the runners as they made their way along the cliff tops but the wind made it impossible to keep the camera steady enough on a tripod for that.

I decided I would be better off heading back and preparing for the next day which would see some fast and furious racing in the shorter distances.

My first stop in the morning would be Caravannel Downs to catch the 12 mile race as the sun was coming up. I went there on Will's recommendation and it was an excellent one with steep climbs, steps, bridges, waterfalls and cliffs. The first runners came through with head torches still on as daylight slowly crept into the sky. By the time I'd finished and was back at the car the sun was fully up and bathing the coast path in beautiful golden light.

The glorious sunlight remained as I made my way to the start line of the 25 at St Ives, a new location for this year and another fantastic one. Starting right on the sea front runners did a loop through the cobbled streets of the town centre before heading out on the coast path. Three waves again provided ample opportunities to get a good mix of shots.

Both the men's and women's fields were stacked with some of the world's best toeing the line. I knew it would be tight getting to my next location ahead of the race and I just missed the first men but arrived with seconds to spare to catch the first women as they flew through the dunes at Gwithian Towans.

Shooting in the dunes felt like cheating, the beautiful golden backlight, long grass and rolling dunes meant that whichever way I pointed my camera looked good. I couldn't hang about too long though, the race was moving fast and I wanted to get back to the finish in time for the first runners.

The end was finally in sight, it had been a full-on but hugely rewarding three days covering the Arc of Attrition. The weather hadn't been the easiest but that's part of what makes the race special. This was only my second time to Cornwall which feels criminal given how easy it is to get to for me. Fingers crossed I'll be back soon to explore this beautiful part of the world at a slightly less frantic pace.

Click here to see my full gallery from the weekend.