My Experience Photographing the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon: Tracking an Athlete Through the Crowd

On 18 October 2026, I took up a different kind of sports photography assignment at the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon. Unlike my usual sports photography assignments, this one came with a major challenge: tracking a specific athlete in a crowd of thousands of runners while capturing both photographs and videos.

I had previously worked with the same client during HYROX, so when they approached me for this assignment, I decided to take it up. However, I knew this was going to be difficult.

Planning the Shoot: The Challenge of Tracking an Athlete

The first challenge was figuring out how to track the athlete throughout the race.

Ideally, I wanted to get access to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, where the runners started and finished. This would have made things much easier. I could have photographed the athlete at the starting point, tracked her along the route, and captured individual shots as she approached the finish line.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get accreditation to enter the stadium.

I informed the client about the limitations and suggested that they consider using the official photographers instead. However, they were comfortable proceeding despite the risks, so I decided to take up the challenge.

We initially planned to track the athlete using either WhatsApp Live Location or Apple's live location-sharing feature. Since the athlete wasn't carrying an iPhone, we decided to use WhatsApp Live Location. Unfortunately, due to technical issues, that option also became unavailable.

With the main tracking method out of the picture, we had to find another way.

4 AM: Starting the Day

The race was scheduled to start at 5:30 AM, which meant I had to leave home around 4:30 AM. I woke up at 4 AM, got ready, and took my scooty so that I could move between different locations along the route.

Even at that hour, Delhi was already busy with runners, vehicles, and people trying to reach the stadium. Some roads were closed, and there were restrictions on vehicle movement around the race route.

I even had a brief encounter with a few dogs chasing me while I was riding. Thankfully, I managed to keep my balance and continue towards the venue.

I reached the location around 5 AM and met the athlete's husband, who would accompany me on the scooty. The plan was simple: we would move between different locations, try to reach each spot before the athlete, and capture her running through the course.

In reality, things were about to become much more complicated.

The Final Attempt Near the Stadium

Our next plan was to reach a location closer to the finishing stretch near Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

I waited there, hoping to spot the athlete as she approached the finish. Based on her expected finishing time, I kept watching for runners passing through the area between approximately two hours and five minutes and two hours and twenty minutes.

Unfortunately, I couldn't identify her in the crowd.

She may well have passed through the location, but with so many runners around, I simply couldn't spot her.

At that point, I had to accept that the assignment hadn't gone as planned.

Unexpected Moments Along the Route

Although tracking the athlete remained my priority, the marathon offered several interesting moments that I managed to capture along the way.

One of the more unusual sights was a cow that somehow found its way onto the race route. I managed to record a video of the unexpected visitor!

I also noticed a runner named Sarthak Malani, whom I hadn't known before the event. He was running backwards while wearing Muay Thai shorts, making him stand out from the other participants.

Another runner caught my attention because he was wearing a distinctive pink mask, seemingly an unusual sight in the already challenging conditions of Delhi's polluted morning air.

These moments reminded me that sports photography isn't always about the main subject. Sometimes, the unexpected things happening around an event can make for equally interesting photographs and videos.

During the race, I also got an opportunity to meet Senthil, popularly known as SportsAnon, one of the leading sports photographers in India. We had previously met during HYROX, so it was good to cross paths again.

A Partial Success and a Learning Experience

Looking back, I consider this assignment a partial success.

From a client's perspective, I wasn't able to deliver enough photographs and videos of the athlete. That was the primary objective, and I fell short of it.

However, we did manage to track her down during the race. Considering the lack of stadium access, the failure of our live-location tracking plan, the road restrictions, and the sheer number of runners, that was an achievement in itself.

I had already explained these limitations to the client before accepting the assignment, so we were on the same page regarding the risks. I charged only a nominal amount to cover my travel expenses rather than treating it as a regular paid assignment.

More importantly, the experience taught me something about planning sports photography assignments that involve tracking a specific participant in a mass-participation event.

Having the right camera and knowing how to photograph an athlete are only part of the job. Sometimes, access, movement between locations, communication, and the ability to identify your subject are just as important.

For a future assignment like this, I would want a more reliable tracking system, a clearer understanding of the route restrictions, and a backup plan for identifying the athlete at each location.

The Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon was a challenging assignment, but it was one I was willing to take on. I may not have achieved everything I set out to do, but I now have a much better understanding of what such a shoot requires.

Hopefully, when I take on a similar challenge in the future, I'll be better prepared to capture the moments that matter.