Celtman - A photographer’s perspective
An article written in the third person for Outdoor Photography magazine about the challenges and rewards of photographing Celtman Extreme Scottish Triathlon, an iron-distance triathlon in the North-West Highlands of Scotland.
The Celtman 3.4km swim takes competitors through the tidal, jellyfish-infested waters of Loch Shieldaig.
One of the founding organisers of the Celtman Extreme Scottish Triathlon, Paul McGreal, is welcoming folk across the race finish line in Torridon, a remote village in the far north-west of Scotland. Spread out around Paul, both inside and outside a building that usually serves as the village's community centre, is a bustling pack of super-fit but now deservedly worn-out triathletes, all of whom can now call themselves a Celtman (or Celtwoman).
The triathletes, chosen by lottery from a strong field of international entries, are busy recounting the race tactics they've just used with each other, joking with their supporters, stretching, eating or simply staring into space as a handful of first aiders keep a watchful eye on them for exhaustion. Scotland's weather has been kind this year and the majority have just completed the third annual Celtman Extreme Scottish Triathlon, an iron-distance endurance race that starts on a remote beach near the picturesque village of nearby Shieldaig. To finish the Celtman race and be awarded a blue or white finisher's t-shirt - there's no prize money for the Celtman - each competitor has to swim 3.4km across a tidal sea loch, cycle 202km around highland roads and then run a marathon distance 42km over (for a blue t-shirt) or around (for a white t-shirt) 2 Munros, Scottish mountains over 914.4m high. There's certainly no guarantee that everyone who starts the race at 5am in Shieldaig will make it over the finish line in Torridon.
Photographing an extreme event like the Celtman is a challenge Edinburgh-based adventure sports photographer, Colin Henderson, relishes.
"It's the distance the race covers that makes it so difficult, to be honest", says Colin, "You can't be everywhere so you need to pick and choose your locations wisely. For example, if you cover the swim start and exit, you're likely to get stuck behind the athletes because the first few kilometres of the 202km cycle takes them up narrow Glen Torridon and you risk being unable to take any shots". Colin continues, "I like to take time in the days preceding the event to scout out what I feel are the best locations. The challenge I set myself is to aim for a small number of excellent photos from each leg so I can do the event justice photographically, rather than position myself in one place and photograph every single athlete. I also like to find locations that are suitably different from the images I shot the previous year, or that are different to angles other photographers use".
The Celtman triathlon was created in 2012, in the style of and in homage to the original extreme triathlon, the Norseman of Norway. It's since been billed as one of the 'toughest triathlons in the world' by 220 Triathlon magazine. The idea behind the race came from Paul McGreal's fellow founder, Stuart McInnes, who came back from a film commission to the Norseman excited about the potential for a similar event in Scotland.
Stuart, together with Paul and race co-ordinator, John Whittaker, designed the Celtman course in 2011. During their planning, they consulted regularly with the organisers of the Norseman to ensure a strong partnership was formed. Scottish triathlete, Stuart Macleod, was also asked for advice on the final course design. Three years on, the Celtman is now an established race with an international field. It is part of a family of three extreme triathlons in Europe (Celtman / Norseman / Swissman – allxtri.com).
On the 3.4km swim leg, Celtman triathletes have to contend with cold water temperatures, seaweed, jellyfish and strong tidal currents. "I like to get in the water to photograph the athletes at the start of the race", says Colin. "The water temperature is always a factor. One year, the swim needed to be cut short to 3km due to a low temperature of 11 degrees C and I found I couldn't stay in the water very long as it's difficult to manipulate the controls when your body is shaking with the cold. What makes the start especially difficult to photograph is the dim light you're shooting in - the race starts at sunrise in a small, fire-lit cove off the north-west coast of Scotland. I like to use a flash to brighten up the colours in my images".
Once Colin has photographed the start of the Celtman, he packs up his gear, warms up again by putting the heater on in his car and heads up Glen Torridon to catch the lead cyclists coming up the glen. "For the 202km cycle leg, I like to do two things. First, I prefer to get up high above the competitors and show them in context of the landscape. There's various crags alongside the winding highland roads the cyclists follow that enable me to do this, though some of them require easy scrambling. Then I like to come back down to the roadside to capture close-ups of riders as they pass by. A telephoto lens is essential here for separating the riders from the background. Having the camera handy all the time too means I can react quickly to what is happening around you. A normal camera strap is sufficient but I find a dedicated strap, designed for event photography, is more comfortable and easier to use".
When it comes to the 42km running leg, Colin's background photographing mountaineers in the Scottish mountains gives him the edge. "After shooting the start of the cycle leg, my focus is to get back to Glen Torridon and climb to the summit of the first Munro (1010m high Spidean Coire nan Clach on Beinn Eighe) as quickly as possible ", says Colin.
"You think you have plenty time - after all, the athletes have 202km of cycling and half a marathon to run before they get there - but the first racers are heading towards you faster than you think". Colin continues, "Normally I'm a big advocate of the 'fast and light' methodology prevalent in adventure photography, especially when long distance and large height gains are involved (the Celtman run covers 42km and goes over two c.1000m mountain summits). But I find with the Celtman I can get a better variety of shots if I carry a wide angle and a telephoto zoom lens on two separate camera bodies. For example, I can shoot wide when the athletes pass close to me and then switch to the telephoto lens to compress them and show their scale against the distant mountains. It's perfectly possible to do this with one camera body, switching lenses each time, but the speed the athletes travel mean you run the risk of missing shots. The downside is the weight. Ascending a 1000m high mountain and running along a ridgeline with 4kg of camera equipment trying to keep up with endurance athletes, even who are 26km into a 42km run, is challenging to say the least".
Basing himself near the first summit on Beinn Eighe, Colin can see the leading athletes making their way up to the summit. "It takes me around 75mins to climb the 900m from the roadside checkpoint to the summit. And that's me moving quickly. The first athletes aren't far behind".
In 2021, the lead Celtman runner was Scotsman Ewan Brown, who won the race in a course record time of 10:56:37. Colin says, "As soon as the athletes reach the summit I start running along the ridge with them. My pre-race planning means I've already visualised where I want to take shots so it's simply a case of trying to keep up with the athletes as they head off towards the second summit, 2.5km away. This is difficult as they're super fit and carrying only the essential safety gear".
Knowing the topography of the mountain is where Colin can start to gain an advantage. He continues, " I know I can't keep up with each athlete all the way along the ridge but to return to the roadside from Beinn Eighe the athletes need to descend into Coire Mhich Fhearchair. The access gully for this spectacular mountain corrie is on the way to the second summit so as long as I get to the gully entrance before the first runners return I can get some shots of them descending".
In 2013, Colin spent two hours in this steep scree gully waiting for the first athletes to arrive. Cold, driving rain and strong winds are classic hypothermia conditions and the organisers, in conjunction with the volunteer mountain rescue safety team, had limited the high route to the first 11 athletes. 'Normally, the view from Beinn Eighe is epic but that year the cloud was down to 500m and you were lucky to see someone 15m away from the top of the mountain. It was a cold, wet and miserable afternoon", recalls Colin. "My main challenge was how to keep my fingers warm and my camera and lenses dry. Nikon equipment is fairly water resistant but it doesn't completely keep water out so I use a cheap rainproof cover to give me peace of mind".
The weather does occasionally cause the race director to invoke plan B (heading all competitors around a still challenging lower route around the back of a nearby Munro, Liathach). It’s the high course though that appeals to Colin as a photographer and he relishes the opportunity of capturing images of the athletes running along the Beinn Eighe ridge with the spectacular Torridon views in the background. "One of the things I like so much about photographing the Celtman is that each year the weather is completely different. It really dictates what you can shoot and how. Even though I have a shot list, I'm not entirely sure what images I'm going to get until the action and the weather unfolds in front on me. Covering the race physically is a challenge but I enjoy that, and also that I have complete autonomy on where I can position myself and the shots I take. It's a totally different perspective to shooting commercial work. I look forward to shooting it every year".
Colin's Celtman gear list
For the swim - Nikon D4S camera body; Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 lens; Nikon SB-910 camera flash; Ewa Marine U-BXP100 waterproof case
For the cycle - Nikon D4S camera body: Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 and 70-200mm f2.8 lens; Joby Ultrafit sling strap
For the run - Nikon D4S camera body, Nikon D810 camera body, Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 lens: Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 lens; Lowepro Toploader Pro AW75; Lowepro Photosport AW200 backpack; Op/Tech rain covers; map and compass, waterproofs, extra clothing; nylon shelter for emergency purposes