#prestonsplayground

On Saturday, April 2, it rained all day.

But nothing could deter the nearly 400 runners who came to run for Preston’s Playground, my social media marketing class’ nonprofit. 

While it was my first time at a 5K (I’m not exactly the “running” type. Or jogging type. I speed walk sometimes), it was not my first time covering a large event. I’d brought with me my trusty work camera, Ava, a Canon EOS 7D Mark II, and had a rough plan for what I wanted to do: take photos, lots of them.

Thanks to my 5K inexperience, I wasn’t sure where to go first, but like many other things I do, I wandered around until I bumped into my classmates and we had a pre-race chat. After discussing what we wanted to do and where to go, we broke up and attacked the situation.

I covered our adaptive runners and took hundreds of photos/videos before and during the race, in addition to capturing at least the first 30 or so across the finish line. 

My major challenges were pressing the shutter button fast enough (this is one of the first times I’ve really used the DSLR to capture movement through photos) and trusting my classmates to do their part. We’ve struggled as a class to find our groove; some have more social media skills than others (or are finding it easier to pick up), while some struggle with the overall concept.

In addition, I know some of my classmates are the kind of people who need more direction than I do. I’m perfectly content to take a base assignment and run with it, making sure to ask questions to keep me on the right track. But not everyone can do that. (And that’s OK.)

While I didn’t learn anything new on how to cover a live event, it was another opportunity to challenge myself and push me out of my comfort zone. Even though I’m the one with the camera, I’m terrified I’ve annoying others and bothering them to take their photo. I’m always afraid they’ll say no!

Also, I learned that it’s important to create a plan for coverage of live events, especially if you’re working with other people. Doesn’t matter if they know how to use social media better or worse than you -- creating a plan unifies efforts and gives those who need more direction an outline for action, something to which they can refer back.

Nick’s Story Nick is an inspiration; his enthusiasm blew me away. Let me tell you why. A 5K race was held Saturday April 2nd at Christiana Mall to help raise funds for the construction of Preston’s Playground, a fully-inclusive park to be built in Newark Delaware. Nick was the first rider in an adaptive chair to cross the finish line, and with his running-partner pushing hard, the fourth participant overall to finish the race. Nick is 21, and attending his last year at Elkton High School. Regardless of his autism, mild cerebral palsy, osteopenia, and nonverbal communication, Nick is an extraordinarily outgoing and enthusiastic racer, and an inspiration.   With hundreds of runners, several running-partners pushing their riders in adaptive chairs, and the rest of us mere mortals just walking, the 5K race at Christiana mall drew us together. This was community building. I’m glad I was there. Social media plays an important role in broadening our reach and communicating our need, as a community, to raise needed funds for Preston’s Playground. Nick, and so many others, are the reason we need to build the park.