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09/24/2026

The 39th annual Smokey Bear Run in the one and only Bass Lake Ca!

Whether you do the 2- mile run walk or race the 10 K, the chance to go to Bass Lake in September means perfect weather, gorgeous skies, and great views. Madera County sheriff always does a wonderful job closing the road to give everyone free rain of the west shore of Bass Lake during the event.

It’s a great way to start the day, whether you continue at at Ducey’s on the lake or The Forks for brunch, or head into Yosemite nearby, there’s no reason not to enjoy participating in the Smokey Bear run, supporting local emergency services at the same time, and enjoying the rest of your day in the local mountains at what is probably the best time of year to do so.

Mark your calendars now for the third Saturday in September and join us next year for the 40th annual Smoky Bear Run in Bass Lake!

09/21/2026

Every year, to the onlooker the Pincushion Hill Climb might appear as if it should be about ego. One mile, a thousand feet of elevation, straight up — the kind of race that seems built for people trying to prove something.

It isn’t.

What one might nice, if present on that mountain, is curiosity. Runners head back up for another lap not because anyone’s chasing them, but because they want to know if they’ve got one more in them.

When they come down from a second or third lap, they swear they are done. But 20 minutes of rest, some gummy bears and some encouragement… they make a new decision, and find the gumption to head up again. There’s no trophy on the line, no one keeping score. Not against the runner next to them, anyway. Just people quietly testing their own limits, lap after lap. Each persons motivation is their own, creating a far reaching variety, but generally birthed out of some form of humility.

That’s what makes this race worth watching.

Swipe through for some of the highlights from this year’s climb. 📸

08/06/2026

Ely Mountain is a son of a gun. Well… at least that one part is.

What’s that? Which part you ask?

Oh child, clearly you were not there.

😘

06/16/2026

“What does a runner look like?”

I had an interesting conversation in between race starts. Somehow she and I got on the topic of her daughter, receiving the comment, more than once, “but she doesn’t look like a runner…”.

The comment, was not meant to be demeaning or judgmental. In fact, i think the person that said it was trying to acknowledge this runner’s talent and speed. Likely, t was meant to be a compliment. They just expressed it poorly.

Now of course, if I asked you to pick out the runner from all of these portraits, it would be the easiest game of Where’s Waldo you’ve ever played…

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I started doing this before the race last year, and had so much fun editing them i decided to take more in this manner again in 2026. When shooting, i had and have every intent on them all being black and white images. But sometimes… sometimes its easy to see that the color needs to stay as it was. All bright and cheerful and whatnot. And i just couldn’t bring myself to make them ALL black and white. That’s all.

06/12/2026

Shadow of the Giants 2026!

A selection of some images from last weekend.

I said so much in my last post, i guess i just dun run outta words. A huge Thank you to everyone who has purchased photos! Your support means a ton! 12th year PloenPhoto has had the privilege to cover this event, grateful for everyone of them!

cheers

06/07/2026

Shadow of the Giants. It was today, true… however these are some PloenPhoto captures from 11 years ago. Most of the faces in this selection were out there today. I remember this day pretty well. It was my first Ultra. Until then i didnt know anyone ran linger than the 26.2 standard. I remember it rained just a little at about 2 or 3 pm. I remember the finish line area at the school being very quiet, with very few people around. (pic 8) So few, in fact that the participants that just ran 50k did so almost without recognition. Almost in secret. Until they rang the school bell on their way through…

It is good to look back and see where it is we came from, and how a select few have helped keep this tradition going.

04/27/2026

I realized the other day that I have now lived the majority of my life in the FresnoClovis area, but had never gone to the Clovis Rodeo. Figured it was high time I went… that and my good buddy had extra tickets! Ha ha, good times!

04/17/2026

McKenzie Preserve Half Marathon and 10k and 5k! When rain is forecast the night before—even as we all went to bed for the night—and then its gone by the time you get up… is just a great great Sunday and a great day for some trail running!

Photos are up! Download’em via that lil’download button and share’em and tag’em and stuff.

01/12/2026

Sycamore Island this morning. Almost always a touch of fog down there on the river. Oh. and some Falcon 9 rocket trails for a bonus! Nice lil’ Funrise this morning. (A fun sunrise … funrise… yeah okay i’ll stop now).

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