Marathon Man

“It’s my own personal Everest,” photographer Mark Edward Harris says of his continuing quest to capture the Los Angeles Marathon from within. Harris entered the marathon for the first time in 1996, walking and jogging the course while carrying his Nikon to capture a side of the event rarely shown: the back of the pack, what happens after the stampede of competitive runners passes by.

Twenty-six miles and 12 rolls of film later, Harris, 40, stumbled across the finish line. He’d been passed by the street sweepers and was forced to complete the race on the sidewalk, but he made it. “It’s so cool to go across the finish line. Everyone treats you like a winner whether you’re in first place or last.”

The following year, Harris beat the street sweepers and shot about 15 rolls of film. He’s still no danger to the front-runners, but that’s not the point. “The course goes through all the different ethnic neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Yet everyone is on the same side rooting you on.”

A stark contrast to traditional images of triumphant front-runners racing for the tape, Harris’ images are more mundane--a street of smashed paper cups, wheelchair racers taping their hands, spectators in lawn chairs cheering him on, a runner dressed as “Addams Family” character Uncle Fester--yet they capture reality for most of the people within the race.

“I’ve traveled to 61 countries and my motivation is always to shoot regular life,” says Harris, an accomplished photographer whose book “Faces of the 20th Century” was awarded best of show honors at this year’s New York Book Show.

“I’m essentially a street photographer. But even though I grew up in Los Angeles and have spent my entire adult life living here, it’s difficult to do here because we’re such a car culture,” says Harris, who will be in the marathon again today. “Part of this is a rebellion against that. The marathon brings it all together for one day, my love of walking, street photography and Los Angeles.”