I usually smile when I see my work published, like when I spied my photo of marathoner Sally Meyerhoff on the New York Road Runner’s website earlier today. My excitement lasted exactly as long as it took to read the accompanying headline: “Sally Meyerhoff Dies in Cycling Accident.”

My relationship with Sally began and ended with my blurted directions to hold up a first place award for a photo op –– something I said to her twice in the past year. But even though I didn’t know Sally personally, I can still recognize that the running world and the real world lost someone special when she passed away.

The 2010 More/Fitness Magazine Half Marathon was a wet, dreary affair. I recall struggling to keep my gear dry while juggling my way through lens changes with cold, clammy hands. Sally won that race, slogging through the rain and cold to emerge victorious. Kristin Davis was the event’s host, and when Sally was called to the stage to collect her award I remember how she threw herself into Kristin’s arms with an embrace that threatened to send both women tumbling to the ground.

This NY Times article can tell you more about Sally’s promising career. Reading it reminded me that I shot her at least a few times, so I dug up a few photos from the More/Fitness Magazine Half Marathon awards ceremony, the NYC Marathon and the Bronx Half Marathon.