Finish line race photos capture a range of expressions, from sheer exhaustion to pure elation—or maybe a blend of both. In the case of a team from Hobby Lobby who ran the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon relay, a series of shots just might top them all.
Before you jump to conclusions, let Andrew Fenrick, the incident’s instigator, and Shannon McNamar, the unwitting victim, explain the story behind the photos.
“We all ran our respective legs, but as a team, we thought it would be fun to cross the finish together,” said Fenrick, who is pictured below in the white hat. “We went to meet Shannon, [the final team member to run], and join him for the last little stretch. He was whooped, but I was feeling good.”
“I was running about 9:02 pace, which is average for me,” said McNamar, pictured above wearing sunglasses next to Fenrick. “Advertisement - Continue Reading Below.”
“I knew they took finish line pictures, so I told the guy running next to me, ‘Hey, when we get to the finish, let’s jump up and do a silly pose and throw my hands up in the air because it’ll be funny in the picture,’” Fenrick said.
“I guess what I didn’t realize was how close I was running to Shannon,” he added. “When I threw my arms in the air—I guess I was flailing them—I decided to come right down on top of his head because he was right underneath me by that point. My arm came down across his face, too, and took out his glasses.”
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“I was thinking, Running From Substance Abuse Toward Recovery? and secondly, Oh no, there go my $100 sunglasses to the ground,” McNamar said. “The first thing I did was bring my arms up for protection.”
“I shielded myself for retaliation, but thankfully, he was too tired to swing back at me,” Fenrick said.
“[The photo] shows [Fenrick] gritting his teeth like, Oh crap, what did I just do?” McNamar added.
“I went from having a good time to feeling really terrible because he was really tired, and I hit him in the face and almost broke his glasses,” Fenrick said.
The moment the shots from the race's photographer Sports Photo came out, Fenrick was pleased to discover a play-by-play of the mishap—much to McNamar's embarrassment.
“It made for some good laughs around the office,” Im a Runner: Cynthia Erivo “faster than you can control.”
“At my expense, nonetheless,” McNamar added.
“It's not printed out and posted yet, but we have a print shop that can make banner-sized photos,” Fenrick said.
“At my expense, nonetheless ‘yet,’” McNamar said. “You are wrong.”
