Nightmare at Bull Run

"Zach Gascho #1005 of Catoctin looks down at his teammate Garrett Buckley #1002, after he and other runners collapsed to the ground as they finished the Boys' Class 2A Maryland MPSSAA Cross Country State Championships at Hereford High School on November 10, 2012 in Parkton, Md. Buckley finished the race in 33rd place, while their team went on to finish in 26th overall."

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Sometimes we shoot assignments and it doesn't feel like anything connected. But a second look at the take leads to an edit.

This is what happened when I covered the the Maryland MPSSAA Cross Country State Championships at Hereford High School.

More than 1,000 runners from all over the state of Maryland competed in the race that many call the "The Toughest Three Miles in Cross-Country."

The course, "Bull Run" is a tormenting race for its participants.

Runners start the course shoulder-to-shoulder, stretching out midway, only to find themselves at the finish line, laying side-by-side with teammates and their competition, gasping for oxygen after giving the course all their heart.

On paper, it sounds like an amazing assignment. Yet when shooting in person, nothing seemed to be lining up. Following the races, I moved my selects of the local teams, overall story to my client and shut down the computer.

When I came back to the take the next day, I found that I indeed captured the course as the hellish nightmare runners endure.

Purely draining the athletes, physically and mentally, these images depict the nightmare at Bull Run.