On June 10, 2024, I texted Seth and let him know about my desire to do a film project with the Franklin Road Runners.
On June 22, 2024, the day after my interview with Michelle, I joined Seth and the rest of the Franklin Road Runners for their Saturday at Pinkerton Park.
I had to navigate carefully to not tip off my true motives. Seth graciously allowed me to speak to the group even though I had not been to a run since my days as race director for the Hillbilly Half Marathon.
After I gave my spiel, I had to quietly pull folks aside and let them know the project was about Seth. Michelle was there and I was able to pull Trish Hagan, Karen Austin and Leigh Anne Duvall into the project later down the road.
The next few miles were killer for me, but I got the foundation for the entire documentary. With just a little prompting, Seth laid out how he started running and how the Franklin Road Runners got started. I had just taken the plastic off my new Canon C70 and mounted Senny MKH-416, I had no gimble, just the included handle. While the footage was shaky and Seth was in and out of exposure and focus, this hero shot turned out to be a great, intimate experience of what a walk/run with Seth is like.
We walked and Seth talked for about seven miles that day. I was not prepared for it and a five pound camera didn’t help my out-of-shape self either.
After two days of momentum, this project started to wither and fade. I was ramping up a short film assembled by neighbors I had never met before, called “Mom, Can You Change My Name?” The Summer proved hard to get runners to commit or respond to much of anything. I resigned myself to the fact that without the blessing of his family and his closest friends, this was dead in the water.
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