The Hours

New Balance | 2023
Arri Amira

What does it take to be an elite 400m runner? These are the hours between the seconds. Introducing New Balance athlete and Olympic medallist, Alex Haydock-Wilson.

Back in 2022, I returned to my alma mater, Loughborough University, to meet with the Director of Athletics, Femi Akinsanya, to discuss the idea of a poetic ode to the commitment of elite athletes. I was introduced to Alex, whose discipline—the 400m—is the one I respect most.

Growing up, I was a sprinter, running the 100m and 200m, but that never translated to the 400m. Watching Michael Johnson in Atlanta, with those gold boots, and Kirani James taking the field by surprise in London, I’ve had an admiration and respect for the 400m runner for a long time. Researching the psychology of the event gave me several different treatment opportunities, but given the small crew and resources, I approached this with DP Dan Hilltout in a way that played into a voyeuristic, observational piece. Shot entirely on sticks with a Super 16 zoom lens, we gave the viewer a sneak peek into what it’s like as an Olympian to train through the winter months—when no one is watching.

Loughborough campus and its sporting facilities were locations I was very familiar with, and we were fortunate to find so many great scenes for this film. Shout out to Luke Predeth, who captured the sound of these empty locations beautifully. And apologies to my favourite gaffer, David Anderson, who reminds me every time I see him that he spent the shoot just turning off lights. We were fortunate that the location, time of day, and time of year gave us a look instantly.

That said, we still copped a £70 fine from the Lidl car park for overstaying our welcome during the lens test.