December 2013
Through the Advocate staff runs a hearty smart-alec streak. We try to keep it in check, but it occasionally peeks through.
(And sometimes the levees holding in all the sarcasm and wisecracking just burst.)
Take, for instance, last December, when we asked photo editor Danny Fulgencio to shoot the Dallas Marathon, an assignment wrought with challenge.
He took it in stride, effectively channeled any simmering frustrations, and didn’t let a little thing like icy streets, downed power lines or frigid temps — or even an official cancellation of the entire shebang, for that matter — keep him from carrying out his task.
Our shutterbug’s Dallas Marathon 2013 The Marathon that Wasn’t photo essay (below) can be considered a metaphor for the marathon itself.
If you marathoners treat the big race the way Danny Fulgencio treated this assignment, you can survive and thrive. Like this: hold with all your might onto your never-say-die attitude, even if others give you permission to quit with impunity; never take yourself too seriously — laugh in the face of frozen fingers and fatigue; dig deep inside your soul to unearth creative solutions to seemingly impossible obstacles, enjoy the scenery, don’t fall, finish what you start.
(Photos are from the actual 2013 planned course, but the 2014 course is different. All the following words and photos are by Danny Fulgencio.)
Thousands of marathon and half-marathon runners could not be seen pounding pavement on Commerce St. during the first mile of the 2013 MetroPCS Dallas Marathon.
Built in 1930, this train bridge on Sylvan in West Dallas did not serve as an ideal vantage point for brave spectators during the 2013 marathon.
Despite the desolate images captured here, several marathoners decided to run anyway. See that impromptu event, dubbed Icepocolypse 2013, here.
Along Mile 3 of the marathon, a pack of lean elite marathoners did not cross the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge.
A string of marathoners were not seen cruising down Turtle Creek. beside Robert E. Lee Park in the sixth mile of the Dallas Marathon.
Not a single 2013 MetroPCS Dallas Marathon runner passed this sad little tree on McCommas.
Near the intersection of McCommas and Greenville, five equidistant runners were not seen passing Unity Church.
At Greenville and Penrose avenues, hundreds of spectators did not flood a 7-Eleven store to purchase sundries.
Near Mile 11 on Ellsworth Ave., an unidentified runner did not discard her jacket near a dissected tree.
At White Rock Lake, two runners were not framed in a wrought iron fence.
Near Mile 13 of the MetroPCS Dallas Marathon, a long row of brightly-dressed runners did not cross the bridge on Mockingbird Ln., nor did a Lake Highlands family enjoy a picnic.
The 2016 marathon, barring any disaster, natural or otherwise, is set for Sunday. More about this Sunday’s Dallas Marathon here.
On East Lawther Dr., three marathoners were not framed by a tree felled during recent inclement weather.
From W. Lawther, hundreds of runners could not be seen treading near the shoreline of White Rock Lake.
A news helicopter was not reflected in White Rock Lake during the 2013 MetroPCS DallasMarathon.
Along White Rock Lake Trail, no MetroPCS Dallas Marathon runners were framed in the support beams of a pedestrian bridge, under which a Great Egret did not relish a freshly caught fish.
On one particularly dicey section of Swiss, six runners did not slip on ice and thus were not severely injured.
On North Washington near the Dallas Marathon’s 24-mile marker, dozens of race supporters did not cheer passing runners, nor were children scolded for eating dirty icicles.
In Deep Ellum, a belligerent, apparently intoxicated man in a giant chicken costume was not detained by police because he was not present … neither were police … or anyone for that matter.
n unidentified wheelchair marathoner did not plow through discarded water cups as he shot beneath U.S. 75 during Mile 25 of the 2013 MetroPCS Dallas Marathon.
At Main St. and N. Harwood St., spectators did not holler words of encouragement or hold large signs supporting runners.
Moments after crossing the Dallas Marathon finish line, a marathoner did not collapse with emotion.
A runner did not toss a banana peel into an overflowing trashcan in the Runners Only area of the 2013 MetroPCS Dallas Marathon.
A woman was not seen waving a large Texas flag atop the Griffin Street Autopark near the Dallas Marathon’s finish line.
Police did not beckon an unidentified man to carefully dismount a bronze statue at Pioneer Plaza.
An unidentified woman did not assist a fellow runner as he limped toward a medical station near the Dallas Marathon’s finish line.
Near the Founders Square office building off Young St., runners did not stretch and relax with ample food, water and thermal blankets.
An unidentified couple did not kiss as they crossed the finish line of the 2013 MetroPCS DallasMarathon.
