When a person talks about running, most people conjure up negative images of people in pain or half-dead from exerting so much energy.  In Grandstaff's "Running is Fun" photo essay, he is trying to show that while those images are a part of running, the pain serves to forge fraternal bonds amongst runners through his organization of the photos, the contrast between the images, and his use of real-life pictures. 

Grandstaff structures his photographs in chronological order.  The first and last photographs are the only ones with captions that label the event and the time that it occurred.  Thematically, the first and final photographs show the same image; they show the author as part of a group of people that have been brought together by running.  The physical act of running is depicted in the middle segment of the essay.  These photographs are of a man resting heavily on his knees after finishing a race, a leg that appears to have two large cuts that span a good portion of the shin, and finally and X-ray of a knee that has lost cartilage in the knee, which leads to joint pain.  The organization of these photographs is also roughly chronological. The man recovering after a race would happen before the injury sustained in the following photograph could occur.  Finally, the image of the X-ray of a knee shows the long-term injuries that running can bring about.  This organization is also an escalating scale of severity, with the first image being something that is recovered from in a matter of minutes, while the final injury to the joint is one that would haunt the person for the rest of their lives.  Grandstaff's organization is effective in conveying the message that running can carry extremely high costs for those that engage in the sport while also providing lasting bonds from start to finish.

In his photo essay, another key device that Grandstaff employs is contrast, both between the photographs themselves, but also between the quotations that "caption" the middle photographs.  The opening and closing photographs stand in sharp contrast with the rest of the images.  They show multiple individuals along with being set apart by their captions.  However, the images themselves are identical, in that one sees the author with arms around teammates smiling.  The biggest difference between the two is that the one constant in the photographs is the author, the rest of the people have changed.  This fact can simply be attributed to the fact that people have graduated from the school and no longer run.  From a thematic standpoint, these two images show that the bond brought about by enduring the hardships of running transcends the age boundaries of high school.  The three images in the middle portion of the essay can be grouped together.  These photographs are all dealing with the negatives of running.  Below these photos, Grandstaff included two quotations from Steve Prefontaine, a famous US Olympic athlete.  These quotations are simple but they add a deeper understanding of the way runners look at their sport.  The first quotation is saying that the best way to run a race is to kill oneself and that today is a good day to die.  That's a very morbid thought but based on the smiles in the first and last images, it seems that runners find the pain shown in the middle portion worth it.  The second quotation talks about that feeling after a race, which is the second image.  That man looks ready to collapse but that "feeling" is one that is so enjoyable that Grandstaff included a quote about.  These quotations serve to increase the contrast between the smiles and comradery in the first and last photographs with the three depicting the less enjoyable parts of running.  Also standing in contrast is the next-to-last image.  This one is all alone thematically, and doesn't really seem to fit in with the rest on a surface level inspection.  The image of two people that are dressed identically and standing with similar posturing catches the eye because of how similar the two subjects are.  However the bright green hat on the one stands in sharp contrast to the pencil behind the ear of the other man.  This contrast can be partially explained by the caption beneath it, suggesting that one in the hat is a runner, and the other person in the photograph is the coach.  This similarity except for the hat shows that the coach is almost part of the fraternity of runners but he's no longer a part of the hijinks that serve to lighten the mood and form the bonds that are shown in the first and final images.

The image choice itself lends well to the essay's message.  Most people don't necessarily have preconceived notions about running for sport because it's not as popular as sports involving balls.  But for those persons that do have ideas of running, most of them don't see the team aspect of running, nor the fact that injuries can and do happen.  Grandstaff directly challenges the idea that running is for individuals and is no-contact with actual photos of teammates in sweat-drenched uniforms along with the image of a leg that has been shredded.  Grandstaff's use of real images doesn't let the reader's imagination do the work; it forces the reader to see the images he wants them to see in the way he wants them presented.  This method is probably more effective that using abstract imagery since Grandstaff's thematic concern seems to be to change the reader's sentiment towards running.  In text sources, concrete evidence is used to persuade and Grandstaff uses concrete images in an attempt to persuade the reader that running isn't just being drenched in sweat, heaving after a race.  It's also that sense of community that runners experience as a result of the physical trials that they go through every time they lace up their shoes.  

Runners undoubtedly go through intense physical trials. Grandstaff is trying to convey to the audience that in spite of all the pain, all runners feel that the sport is worth it because of the bonds that are formed.  He does this through his use of organization, the contrast involved between the images and captions, along with his decision to use real images instead of drawings or other abstract images in this photo essay.

