Saturday 23rd August – Ultra Trail Running & Drone Action

I joined the new DNF Ultra Trail Running Club for their first 23km run at Cannock Chase—basically my childhood backyard. Early 7am start meant camping at Tackeroo the night before. Our tent box routine is now perfected: I wrestle the roof, Adelina makes the inside cozy, I faff, Adelina sneaks a vape, then Netflix (still not finished The Hunger Games). Owls weren’t fans—they kept us awake for a bit.

James flying his drone as usual!

Morning arrived at 6:30am: coffee on the portable stove, kit on, energy building. DNF requested our services so Adelina grabbed the camera, I launched the drone for aerial photography and videography. Every epic trail run deserves stunning overhead shots. Car park photoshoot complete, fifteen runners lined up at 7am… seriously crazy. Photogenic though!

Adelina editing at the Tent

The run itself? Brutal. I covered 38km—23km with the club, plus 15km extra. While I ran, Adelina stayed back at camp, editing photos and drone footage of course. She even snapped us as we ran by—a real trooper. Post-club run, I finished the extra 14km while Adelina kept full-on editing. Chaos ensued: James fought his socks, Adelina fought the table—but teamwork and drone coverage made it all worthwhile.

The results: crisp aerial shots, cinematic videography, and professional drone content ready for social media. Home for fish & chips, reel edited and posted for DNF by the next day. With two of us sharing shooting and editing tasks, it all flows seamlessly.

Next adventure: King’s Gym London. Same team, same drone, new challenges. Let’s go!

The start of the DNF Club run. A real pleasure to be a part of this from the get go. More to come for sure!