>>1107338Cross-country shooter here, yes shoot low, do it all the time.
I prefer shooting with a warmer color balance, but you should play around and see what you like best. An f/4 lens wide open or at 4.5 works fine for me, I rarely wish I had a 70-200 2.8.
When you're cropping, never crop at the joints. I get the whole runner in the frame whenever possible, or I crop slightly above the waist.
Move AROUND. The local newspaper sports photographer is a big fat fuck who sits on her ass with her monopod and her 600 f/4, gets half an hour of shots from the same angle, and leaves. When I shoot a race, I dash around and find the best places before it even starts. Know where your athletes are going to be and use that prediction to your advantage. If it's a basketball or football game where the guys are going back and forth on the field, experiment. You know they'll be back at one end or the other, so that gives you a small amount of time to find a cool location.
<table class="exif" id="exif1292964108790" style="display:none;"><tbody><tr><td><b>Camera-Specific Properties:</b></td></tr><tr><td><b></b></td></tr><tr><td>Equipment Make</td><td>SONY</td></tr><tr><td>Camera Model</td><td>DSLR-A300</td></tr><tr><td>Camera Software</td><td>Adobe Photoshop CS4 Windows</td></tr><tr><td>Maximum Lens Aperture</td><td>f/4.0</td></tr><tr><td>Focal Length (35mm Equiv)</td><td>315 mm</td></tr><tr><td><b></b></td></tr><tr><td><b>Image-Specific Properties:</b></td></tr><tr><td><b></b></td></tr><tr><td>Image Orientation</td><td>Top, Left-Hand</td></tr><tr><td>Horizontal Resolution</td><td>72 dpi</td></tr><tr><td>Vertical Resolution</td><td>72 dpi</td></tr><tr><td>Image Created</td><td>2010:10:27 19:28:58</td></tr><tr><td>Exposure Time</td><td>1/320 sec</td></tr><tr><td>F-Number</td><td>f/4.0</td></tr><tr><td>Exposure Program</td><td>Aperture Priority</td></tr><tr><td>ISO Speed Rating</td><td>400</td></tr><tr><td>Brightness</td><td>5.6 EV</td></tr><tr><td>Exposure Bias</td><td>0 EV</td></tr><tr><td>Metering Mode</td><td>Pattern</td></tr><tr><td>Light Source</td><td>Daylight</td></tr><tr><td>Flash</td><td>No Flash, Compulsory</td></tr><tr><td>Focal Length</td><td>210.00 mm</td></tr><tr><td>Image Width</td><td>2592</td></tr><tr><td>Image Height</td><td>3872</td></tr><tr><td>Rendering</td><td>Normal</td></tr><tr><td>Exposure Mode</td><td>Auto</td></tr><tr><td>White Balance</td><td>Manual</td></tr><tr><td>Scene Capture Type</td><td>Standard</td></tr><tr><td>Contrast</td><td>Normal</td></tr><tr><td>Saturation</td><td>High</td></tr><tr><td>Sharpness</td><td>Normal</td></tr><tr><td><b></b></td></tr></tbody></table>