So, some information to be clear:

• I ran in all of these races during the years from 2008 to 2013
• I took all of the photos on this site unless I point out  where I’ve used public domain images (from places like Getty Commons)
• I reserve all copyrights and rights to use, but you can link to this site freely
• RunFifty Films LLC follows on from the half marathon journey, and enables me to pursue my film production passion

I really relied upon HalfMarathons.net for most of my race logistics — great site to find races and really useful. Shout out to Terrell Johnson, Megan Cox and Carissa Liebowitz for that great resource. I sometimes used MarathonGuide.com too.

I went through four pairs of shoes running the 50. I started with Nike Lunar Eclipse shoes, but after they kept changing (= ruining) the designs, I switched to Saucony PowerGrid. I wore Thorlo running socks and New Balance NBx socks.

I went through a couple of Polar running watches, a Timex Ironman and finally a Garmin.

My constant companion on the runs was my iPhone — for GPS tracking using the Nike+ app, and for my music playlists. I think I went through 6 pairs of headphones. I use the iPhone as a fancy iPod — for the communication side of things I have a Nokia Lumia Windows Phone.

My playlist? I always started a run with Korean (K-POP) music from Girls Generation (SNSD). I love that stuff. The rest of the playlist is eclectic – including Alice Cooper, Ozzy, Badfinger, Dawes, Sistar, Doobie Brothers, Linkin Park, Elvis, Chris Robinson Brotherhood, ELO, ELP, Steely Dan, America, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Eskimo Joe, The Tubes, Marshall Tucker Band, Firefall, Lily Allen, Moby, Pilot, The Decembrists, The Church, Midnight Oil, KISS, Oingo Boingo, Florence and the Machine, Greg Kihn, The Cars, Ellie Goulding, Austra, Rush, George Strait, Genesis, Carole King, The Whitlams, BTO, and the Theme from Hawaii Five-O…

All races rely to some extent on local volunteers — and these are the folks you rely upon for water, high fives, and general support during a run. Thanks to all those volunteers around America that keep getting out there supporting local events!

Oh, and I don’t like Active.com. I hate their registration premium, their spam emails, their dodgy information retention — try registering as a “guest” without setting up an account, then try to use that same email address for another race — you will see what I mean. There is no excuse for the premium costs they charge to register for races — none guys, I’m in the business I know what it really costs you – and no excuse for the crappy user experience when registering.