How do I describe the rush of seeing elite athletes run by me, clocking 4:30 minute miles? These runners--seen here around mile 7 of the New York City Marathon--were barely breathing, their light footsteps whispering past the crowd in seconds. I set my shutter speed to 1/3000 and that was still barely fast enough to capture them. The runner in the green tank closest to the viewfinder is Geoffrey Mutai, the eventual winner. His winning time was 2 hours, 5 minutes, 6 seconds, annihilating the previous course record.

And the next waves of athletes? While these runners didn't finish in 2 hours, they finished--many with impressive times. Most who ran by were joyful and relaxed, their months of training finally paying off. I'm completely inspired by all of the runners!