An Open Letter to the Athletes of the Westside Classic

The start of the 2024 Westside Classic

This week, I’m not publishing a race preview.

I could spend hours combing over your statistics and formulating a story, but that’s not the story that matters on Saturday.

The real story is the one you’re about to write. I’d rather spend my time preparing to capture it.

This will be my second Westside Classic, and I've been looking forward to this day since the moment last year's race ended. There is a special feeling in the air that you are all creating: state berths, celebration, parents embracing you after your last high school race. The emotions are high.

Taming those emotions will be the name of the game. Many of you have been here. You’ve run at Chambers Bay numerous times, you know the course, you understand your pacing. But I also know that all of that can go out the window when the silence sets in, you hear the breath of the runners in the box beside you, the nerves build, and the gun cracks.

Everyone handles the seconds before the start differently. It’s a rainbow of emotions.

Just like that, you are 15 minutes away from possibly finishing your last race.

Sydney Kosa prepares for take off

Hell, I get emotional just thinking about it.

As a photographer, you’ll see me wandering around the course, trying to blend in. I'm really just watching for those natural, unguarded moments of truth to unfold. While this journey is entirely yours, know that I feel like I have the best seat in the house. It is an absolute privilege to witness it.

When I’m looking through my viewfinder and you are coming straight towards the finish, 100-meters to go, I see everything. I see your emotions, your exhaustion. And over the course of the season, I learn so much about you.

Isaac Benjamin securing a victory at the SPSL 4A League Championship

Take Latham West, for example. I know she will most likely shift to the right side of the course near the end. I know that when she crosses the finish line, she’s going to collapse. I know this because she has done it in almost every race I've seen her run. She is a fighter. She leaves everything on the course.

Latham West reaches the finish at the HOKA John Payne XC Invitational

This same story of guts and heart goes for dozens of you who will be running on Saturday.

There's nothing more exciting than seeing you overcome your fear of pushing too hard and just go for it.

This is your last chance. Leave it all out there. I’ll be there to capture it.

See you at the finish line.