Hanging With The Orange Runner

“People tend to really like comics about Steve Prefontaine or anything that makes them feel like a badass.”

Hanging With The Orange Runner

Directed by RJ McNichols

Starring Luke McCambley

Luke McCambley is a talented running illustrator based in the Big Apple who has a knack for tapping into the little moments known uniquely to runners. He sketches them out and shares them to the running faithful on his website, to his email subscribers, and on his instagram page: @theorangerunner.

During the 2020 Olympic Trials of 2021 (still very strange to comprehend) RJ McNichols captured Luke sketching in the famous Pioneer Cemetery next to Hayward Field between events and picked his brain a little on process and origin.

Luke’s comics have delighted and connected runners for years now, providing snapshots of the thoughts, struggles, mindset and small victories that bind us all together in our weird little world.

Note from the Director-

“Luke, myself and 10 others took up residency at House #2 via the Lost Boys Summer Camp in Eugene during the 2020(1) Olympic Trials. I had been to New York plenty of times over the previous 5 years and had run into him and had been a fan of his work and this was the first time where we’d spent longer than meeting up for a run or two in the concrete jungle. There is only so much you can do in Eugene to begin with and I used that time to work on some experimental projects.

Luke is kinda like the Weird Al of running media. He is a genre unto himslef. In some ways, he kinda reminds me of a giraffe, not because he is tall, but because his work really sticks out. I’ve been making docs and videos within the world of running for 10 years now but it has slowly tapered off in recent years. When I do step to the line of making a video within running, I’m trying to make projects that aren’t about making a team or winning a medal or qualifying. I’m trying to find and capture a story that’s well… different than I have in the past.

For this short, I wanted to showcase someone in the within running doing something unusual, different and totally awesome.”