Mike Arnold

Run Vibes

Run Vibes · August 2026

Two summer evening runs with Run Vibes, out across Suffolk — Rougham Sunflowers one week, Wyken Vineyards the next. A running event that puts the social first and the distance second.

Running events are a strange one to photograph. Everyone is moving away from you, the light is going, and the classic shot is somebody grimacing at the floor. Nobody wants that photo of themselves.

So I ran it backwards. Get ahead, find a spot where the track opens up, and be there long enough that people have time to see me and react. That is where the peace signs, the shakas, the high fives and the two people leaping in the air came from. Nobody was asked to do any of it.

Rougham was the pick of the two. A farm track running the length of the sunflower field at Rougham Estate with the sun dropping behind it, kids stationed halfway round handing out high fives, and a group at the finish who worked out for themselves that a sunflower makes a very good face.

Wyken Vineyards gave a completely different run — tree-lined tracks and field edges just outside Bury St Edmunds, finishing where these things should finish: at Amélie with everyone still buzzing.

Five runners lined up holding sunflowers over their faces, long shadows across the ground in the last of the sun.
Two runners jumping in the air side by side on the track, sunflowers to their left and golden light behind.
A runner leaping into the air with her arms out beside the sunflower field, her friend laughing beside her.
Five runners holding sunflowers up in front of their faces after the run, hay bales behind them.
A runner throwing both arms in the air beside the sunflowers, two more waving further down the track.
Two runners with their arms flung out, laughing, the rest of the group behind them along the sunflower row.
Two runners coming up a farm track beside a field of young sunflowers in evening light.
A runner in dusty pink alongside a full row of sunflowers, the track stretching away behind her.
A young girl reaching up to high-five a runner coming past on the track.
Two children stretching out to high-five a runner as he sprints past them on the field path.
A runner in maroon coming along a dry track beside a tall hedgerow, low sun on her face.
Two runners side by side on a dirt track under a big tree, more of the group spread out behind.
Two runners in the golden hour on a dry field path, the rest of the group strung out behind them.
A pack of runners coming down a tree-lined track in dappled sunlight, front three grinning and holding hands.
A runner in a Valencia Marathon shirt and white cap giving two thumbs up as he comes up the field.
A runner in a teal top throwing a shaka at the camera, three more strung out behind him on the path.
A runner holding up a peace sign mid-stride on a grass track, two others either side of him.
A man and a woman running side by side with both hands raised in a wave, hedgerow behind them.
A runner in a blue vest on the tramline between a bare field and long dry grass, others strung out ahead.
A runner in bright orange waving as she comes across the meadow in low evening sun.
A runner in a white crop top flashing a peace sign, water bottle in hand, the group bunched up behind her.
A runner throwing both arms wide and grinning as she comes up the grass strip beside a ploughed field.
A runner in a bucket hat holding up a peace sign, his mate keeping pace beside him in the long grass.
Two runners high-fiving mid-stride on a grass path, both laughing.
One runner with his arm slung round another's shoulders, both laughing as they come up the track together.
Three runners abreast on a grass path, thumbs up and arms out, all grinning at the camera.
A single runner far down a grass track between a golden field and dark ploughed earth.
Three runners arm in arm outside the bar after the run, backlit by low sun, festoon lights strung along the barn behind them.