Tip for a moving scene

[FedeSearch]

Hi everyone,
I'm a noob of film making (so this should be the right section for my question) and I would like your help to understand which is the best way to do a moving scene.
My friends and I are trying to do a short film for our marketing class and we have a Panasonic HDC-SD90.
One of the scenes features a person while running.
We want to follow the subject keeping always the same distance from him. Thus, we need to run along with him.
The problem is that, holding the camera while running, we cannot prevent the image from shaking.

Do you know if it's possible to solve this problem without spending a fortune on expensive equipment?

Thanks a lot for the help!

 

[Lucky Hardwood]

Those setups address all of the issues that I mentioned. You have to attach the line between two stable structures (trees and telephone poles work well), pull it TIGHT (a come along or ratchet straps are good), use wheels to reduce friction (bicycle wheels work), and hang a stable weight (attach a metal pipe with the outer diameter equal to or slightly less the hole in the center of free weights and use weights from a home gym and a screw on cap to secure them) under the camera/cradle to stabilize the swaying motion. You might also want to make an attachment point on the back side of the cradle to hang balancing weights to counteract any off balance issues caused by different length/weight cameras/lenses.