Photographers assigned to remote race checkpoints

Trail races, mountain events and long cycling routes often include checkpoints that sit well away from any road. They are important to the race and to the people watching at home. They are also the points where photographers are most easily over-promised. This page is part of our guide to endurance-event photography.

What makes a checkpoint "remote" for a photographer?

A checkpoint is remote when the usual ways of getting there are not available during the race. The road may be closed to non-race traffic. The last stretch may be a track on foot. There may be no mobile signal, and no way to leave until the checkpoint closes.

A checkpoint can also be remote in time. If participants pass within a narrow window and the next checkpoint is long distance away, a crew cannot be at both.

What must be confirmed before assigning anyone?

Three things decide whether a checkpoint can be covered at all.

1. An authorised route. The way in must be one the organizer permits on race day, which may differ from what a map suggests. We do not infer that any road or trail is open to us.
2. Permission to be there. The organizer, and where relevant the landowner or managing authority, must agree that a photographer may stay at the point.
3. A way to communicate. Someone at the checkpoint, or a radio contact, must be able to tell the crew about changes.

Without all three, the checkpoint stays on the map but not in the coverage plan. Our venue-access change and recheck tracker helps you keep a record of what has been confirmed and when.

How many checkpoints can a crew cover?

A simple test helps. Take the time the first participants reach checkpoint A and the time the last participants leave it. Then add the travel time to checkpoint B on the permitted route. If the crew cannot arrive at B before the first participants, the crew cannot cover both.

Question	If the answer is no
Is the route allowed on race day?	Drop the checkpoint or change the route
Can the crew arrive before the first participant?	Cover only one of the two
Is there a safe place to stand?	Ask the organizer for another position
Is there a way to call for help?	Agree a communication plan first

For longer events that run through the night, see ultramarathons across night or multiple days.

An example scenario

For example, imagine a 50 km trail race with four checkpoints. Checkpoint 2 can be reached by a forest road that the organizer's own vehicles use. Checkpoints 3 and 4 are on a ridge reached only by a 40-minute walk.

A realistic plan might put one photographer at checkpoint 2, who could also reach the finish by an official vehicle. The ridge could be covered by a second crew member who walks up before dawn and stays until the last participants pass, if the organizer authorises this. If that is not possible, the ridge is left to participant photographs and the brief says so. Our page on trail races with dispersed access points explores this kind of plan in detail.

What does this mean for cost and safety?

Remote coverage uses more crew time and often more crew. Staying out for many hours also needs water, shelter and a plan for leaving. We discuss these needs with the organizer and write what we can confirm in the quotation. Our guide to remote and rural event locations covers the wider travel questions.

The organizer decides where photographers may stand, and we follow those decisions.

What if a checkpoint cannot be reached on the day?

Plans fail for ordinary reasons: a washed-out track, a closed gate, a late vehicle. Agree in advance what the crew does then. The usual choices are to move to the nearest authorised position, to cover the checkpoint later when participants reach a reachable point, or to leave it out of the record and say so. Our guide to when the venue restricts photography access on the day describes how we handle a change like this.