Percyathlon

The template is based off a course in Sydney, Australia. and is intented to be a living document. Please leave a comment if you have any suggestions. Last updated 17th November 2024.

Fields are Bolded, sample text is italicised and notes are also included in plaintext but i havent been able to get the formatting quite right.

Title: Milsons Point to Mrs Macquaries Chair (Sydney, Australia)

A descriptive title for the course, followed by a its geographical location

Overview: *travel across the Sydney Harbour Bridge from north to south and pass the main ferry terminal and Opera House. *

A short description of the course with highlights. Convince the reader that the course if way better than running on a treadmill or around a 400m track.

Start point: *Milsons point (accessible by train and ferry) * A geographical reference for where people are to start the event. For events where people may be participating focused on time, a specific start point like. The edge of dock.

End Point: Mrs Macquaires Chair, in the botanical gardens, at the bottom of the steps on the path around the harbour.

Stations:

1. harbour side at Milsons point, a wide angle shot of the Harbour Bridge and optionally Circular Quay docks.

2. while crossing the bridge get a shot of the Sydney Opera House

3. While passing circular quay take a photo of one of the Sydney ferries

4. at the corner of the opera house, take a nother shot of the harbour bridge.

5. at Mrs Macquaires Chair take a shot of the opera house and harbour bridge.

This sections lists places the percyathlete should stop on the course and take photos. There is no penalty for missing a station or shot

Course length: approximately 5 km. Optionally include a duration and

Required equipment: Nothing extra is required. Some courses may need to be done on a bike, and some places may need a entry permit or parking to be paid for.

Optional segments: (May be omitted) Some courses may have optional segements and may start or finish with a swim, involve a change to a bike or have a longer segment which may not be as easy to navigate and may not be as scenic.

Notes:

1. The path is fairly steep between Milsons point and the harbour bridge walkway.

2. There are elevators on the east side of the bridge ont he north and south sides for wheelchair access.

3. There is a lookout on the southern pylon of the bridge and going into this is costs money and is optional.

4. The eastern side of the bridge is used by pedestrians while the western side of the bridge is used by cyclists.

5. There may be many people walking over the bridge at peak times and running may not be possible.

6. A wrist strap is recommended for camera shots taken on the bridge.

7. Between the southern part of the bridge and a circular quay, the most direct route includes some stairs.

8. Circular quay can become very busy and people looking to run the course have to walk.

9. The Sydney Opera House is often used for events and there may be many members of the public walking around it.

10. After leaving the Opera House, the pedestrian traffic should decrease to the point runners can go at high speeds.

11. There is no public transport close to the finish line and athletes probably have to go back to circular quay on their way home.

12. Extra people are likely to be in the course on New Years Eve and January 26th (Australia Day).

Notes should include any other information, Consideration should be given to accessibility issues, hazards and times of the day/year to avoid. Information on recommended routes to and from start points should be included as well as other information like. 'the course starts and finishes near a car park, but it is usually full of a Saturday morning due to people using nearby sporting fields.

The short answer is any one you feel comfortable carrying and using.

Mobile phones cameras are fine and over the last few years, almost any phone would produce an image that would look good on a computer monitor.

You could also use a film, compact, tough or DSLR.

Camera ergonomics and being able to effectively control the camera are a much higher priority than anyone mandating that a specific camera needs to be used.

**Camera/Lens field of view in mm. ** If you were competing in the early 90's film cameras would be the only choice, and some cameras would be compact enough to fit in a jacket pocket. Most wouldnt have zoom and have a fixed wide angle lens (28-35mm in 35mm equivalent)

The field of view of a camera is commonly referred to as a unit in mm. I think it was because it described of how some part of the lens was away from the film. Whatever it actually, means, a lens described as an 14mm lens has a very wide field of view. From the left to the right, it can capture over 90 degrees of light.

Common wide angle lesnes are 28-35mm. having a slightly narrower field of view is a 50mm lens which is commonly used for portraits. Lenses around 200mm are useful for capturing sports and 300mm+ lenses would be useful for getting photos of birds or other far away things.

The mm unit of measure is based on the film or sensor size and was the standard when 35mm film was the widely used. Lenses in compact cameras might actually be something like a 5-14mm lens, but due to the smaller sensor size this might have the equivalent field of view to a 70-200mm lens so figures may be used as '35mm equivalent'.

I have a compact camera which has a 28-300mm lens (35mm equivalent) and i would consider it an excellent choice to be able to capture most wide shots and be able to zoom in on wildlife if the opportunity arose.

Megapixels A megapixel is a unit of measure for how many millions of pixels are able to be recorded when an image is taken. A Full HD monitor (1920x1080 pixels) can display 2,073,600 pixels. a 4K monitor (3840 x 2160) can display 8294400 which is 4 times as many pixels.

Most relatively new cameras can capture over 10 megapixels, it might have been a consideration when digital cameras were still evolving, but unless you want to print posters or have a super fine magazine cover image, then megapixels shouldnt be a big consideration.

Related, if you are printing, you typically want 150-300 dots per inch to have a nice high resolution print. For A4, i would want to get 300dpi and as the print gets bigger towards a poster, i would be comfortable using a lower dpi as people are less likely to look closely at the details.

You might want a tough camera which is able to be taken in water if you are going to complete more adventurous courses or compete in inclement weather.

Interchangeable lens cameras are also something to consider, but i think having to carry an extra lens during an event and changing it on the fly could be more hassle than its worth.

I wanted to create this community to help people become more active and take some cracker photos while doing it.

You might be someone keen on photography and want to get fitter or you might be an ultramarathon athlete who wants to find some new and interesting places to run.

You don't need a fancy camera to participate either. A phone will do, you might want to use a tough camera, or maybe would want to use a full frame SLR. You could even use a large format camera.

Success is largely defined by yourself. You might love to just get out and get some new photos for wall art, or you might be focused on getting a new personal best.

While the main way athletes move around is walking or running, there is no reason that courses cannot be made for a cross country skier, or someone in a kayak or canoe.

A course could be as short as 20 minutes or as long several days long. Hopefully people see places others have been and want to also complete a course.

A sample course: Milsons Point to Mrs Macquaires Chair (Sydney, Australia)

Overview: travel across the Sydney Harbour bridge from north to south and pass the main ferry terminal and Opera House.

Start point: Milsons point (accessible by train and ferry) End Point: Mrs Macquaires Chair, in the botanical gardens

Stations:

1. harbour side at Milsons point, a wide angle shot of the Harbour Bridge and optionally Circular Quay docks.
2. while crossing the bridge get a shot of the Sydney Opera House 3).While passing circular quay take a photo of one of the Sydney ferries 4 at the corner of the opera house, take a nother shot of the harbour bridge. 5 at Mrs Macquaires Chair take a shot of the opera house and harbour bridge.

Course length, approximately 5 km.

Notes: the path is fairly steep betwee Milsons point and the harbour bridge walkway. There are elevators on the east side of the bridge ont he north and south sides for wheelchair access. There is a lookout on the southern pylon of the bridge and going into this is costs money and is optional The eastern side of the bridge is used by pedestrians while the western side of the bridge is used by cyclists. There may be many people walking over the bridge at peak times and running may not be possible. A wrist strap is recommended for camera shots taken on the bridge. Between the southern part of the bridge and a circular quay, the most direct route includes some stairs. Circular quay can become very busy and people looking to run the course have to walk. The Sydney Opera House is often used for events and there may be many members of the public walking around it. After leaving the Opera House, the pedestrian traffic should decrease to the point runners can go at high speeds. There is no public transport close to the finish line and athletes probably have to go back to circular quay on their way home.