Perfectly Hidden

It was a cold and windy day to start off the Philadelphia Marathon 2015. I remember that day clearly as I was basically frozen from walking around on-site to help out with media tasks. Arriving as early at 5 am to help the team to prep, I felt a ‘burdened’ feeling as I knew that it’s finally D-day and everything is going live in just a few more hours and we have to expect the worst case scenario that could possibly happen. It was so dark that I could hardly see anything but I could hear my heart thumping in excitement. As the clock continued to tick, thousands of people came swarming in with their running gears and their enthusiasm to win the race. Everything happened so fast and before I knew it, I was at the starting line cheering for the runners. As soon as the race kicked-off, it was back to work, preparing for the return of the winners. Finally finishing off with the last pace team, runners from the elite team were already in sight to the starting point in just an hour! Media were on stand-by to capture the historical moment and volunteers ready to assist. It all happened so fast and it was really an ‘adrenaline rushing’ experience! While in mind I had certain expectations on how media works behind the camera, all that fantasy was crushed when most of the media crew actually worked in pairs. A reporter and a cameraman/woman.

I also had the anticipation of cameras and reporters flooding in to interview the winners and snapping away the winning moment. However, it did not work that way at all. The media team from NBC10, 6abc, Philadelphia Inquirer, CBS, Comcast Sports and freelancers were working on their own are were being very calm about the situation. I guess I was probably the only one who was really hyped for the winners. I realized that the scenes captured on TV are overly exaggerated as compared to the occurrence of the event that was happening at the current moment. They were smart with the location they chose to film and report and only showing the audience a very exciting fragment of the event. Sneaky but effective. Everything was just perfectly hidden. Guess now we all should remember to never completely trust what you read, see and hear until you have fully comprehend the whole picture.