Photos by Erin Costa of Tamara Lackey Photography
The Runners:
John O’Hollaren, 25, is from Bend, Oregon, and is an electrical engineer. Adrian Stewart (wearing the hat) is 44 and from Charlotte, North Carolina. Stewart is a banker. O’Hollaren’s favorite distance is the half-marathon and his favorite pre-race meal is a big quinoa pasta dinner and a lot of water the night before. Stewart’s favorite distance is the marathon and he favors a salmon salad for his pre-race meal.
The Race to the Finish:
“The moment you captured was very memorable for me,” says O’Hollaren. “I had been following that guy in the hat for quite some time, but just couldn’t seem to catch him. You know that super demoralizing cycle of “I make a push but you go faster as well so I still can’t keep up”? Yeah – that. At the finish line, as soon as I saw and heard all of those people, I finally decided I had to go all out and try to get him. The atmosphere at the finish line was incredible; it was so loud, I had to give it all I had!”
The cheering spectators caught the attention of Stewart, who took a quick look over his left shoulder, then his right. “At that point of the race I was depleted and just looking for any type of motivation,” says Stewart. “In this case it was ‘Don’t let this guy beat you!’” Stewart gave it all he had.
The Finish:
Stewart and O’Hollaren shared an identical gun time of 1:30:04. Stewart’s chip time was just .07 seconds faster than O’Hollaren’s.
What they say about the Bull City Race Fest & Food Truck Rodeo:
Stewart says the Bull City Race Fest & Food truck Rodeo has “the best fan support race around – perfectly put on!” O’Hollaren loves the finish line. “Seeing that many people all cheering for the runners at one time. And the food. The food was amazing.”
