Photo Contest: DC-Area Trails (and JFK, too!)

If you are looking for fame and fortune, you came to the wrong place. However, iRunFar is running its first contest, which offers the possibility of publication in a national running magazine and some shoe money.

To be more specific, iRunFar is looking for photographs of or from DC-area trails in connection with a forthcoming article on said trails. (See earlier post calling for DC-area trail suggestions.) We ask that you submit photographs of trails inside the Beltway with the notable addition of nearby of Great Falls National Park and the Billy Goat Trail. (Inclusion of runner(s) in the photograph would be nice, but is far from necessary.) Photographs need to be submitted by 6 p.m. EDT on Friday to be included for the full reader voting period,* which will run through the weekend. Read on for contest details

Why not give it a shot? You’ve got nothing to lose. Be sure to let your family and friend who may have photographs of inside the Beltway trails about the iRunFar photo contest!

The general contest format involves you sending a few photos (fewer than 10, please) or a link to a small online photo album of DC-area trails to iRunFar via “irunfarblog at gmail dot com” before 6 pm on Friday.* It would be great if submissions were accompanied by a brief description of each photograph (i.e., location or event, if applicable). From the submissions, the iRunFar contest team will choose five to ten of its favorite photographs and post them before Saturday along with an online poll. Voters will then have the entirety of the long weekend (through midnight Monday) to vote on their favorite photograph. The top three vote getters win.

What do they winners get? Well, first and foremost (in our judgment), the three winners get a chance at being published in a national running publication. Please note that winning in no way guarantees publication, as the final editorial decisions are well outside our control. To make sure the winners get something, the top three places in the contest will receive a Pacers’ gift certificate for the following amounts:

1. $25
2. $15
3. $10

That might not be much, but it’s better than nothing and it’s all we could spare from the iRunFar beer, er… rehydration fund. If you submit a winning photo, but don’t live in the area, iRunFar will work with you to get a gift certificate for a local running store or, failing that, at a national online running or outdoor store.

Pseudo-legalese: Note that while I’m an attorney, I know nothing about copyright law. The following points basically boil down to – Is the photo “yours” and would you mind if the photo is published? Pretty simple, huh? To draw things out a bit, note that by submitting a photo for consideration, you are acknowledging that:

• You have publishing rights to the photo (i.e., you took the photo and it was not taken as part of job where someone else holds the publishing rights);
• You don’t mind the photo being published on iRunFar;
• You wouldn’t mind the photo being publish in a national circulation running magazine; and
• You will provide your contact information in case the magazine has an additional form for securing publication rights (We would need the contact information for winners, anyway).

Calling All JFK 50 Mile Photos!
iRunFar is also looking for photos from the JFK 50 miler. While there are no physical/fiscal prizes associated with JFK photos, iRunFar will be choosing a few JFK photos to submit for publication. For that reason, the same conditions noted above apply to the JFK photos. Note again, iRunFar does not hold the final decision of which photographs will get published. If enough quality photographs are submitted by 6 p.m. Friday, iRunFar may also run an online poll regarding the top JFK 50-related submissions.*

* It is possible that later submitted photographs may be included in the voting; however, the contest director may be in the mountains with no email access for the entire weekend and, regardless, many votes may have already been cast before the late submitted photograph is posted.

Related articles:

1. Bonus: JFK 50 Mile Photo Contest After the avalanche of great JFK 50 photos we received, we think it would be unfair not to give the JFK photos the same treatment the DC-area trails contest submissions...
2. Vote for Your Favorite DC-Area Trail Photos! Wow, up until a few hours ago, iRunfar’s first contest was a complete and total flop. However, a last minute surge from readers has left us with plenty of quality...
3. DC Area Trails (Northern Virginia and Maryland, too) A few months ago, iRunFar readers stepped up and shared their thoughts on and pictures of both the JFK 50 Mile run and DC area trails. (JFK 50 thoughts, JFK...

Filed under Contests · Tagged with photos

Bryon Powell is the Editor-in-Chief of iRunFar.com, which he founded five years ago. Also the author of Relentless Forward Progress: A Guide to Running Ultramarathons and a contributing editor at Trail Runner magazine, he's quickly approaching 10 years as an ultrarunner and 20 years as a trail runner. These days he calls Park City, Utah and its trails home.
All posts by Bryon Powell