best digital camera for action shots. Multiple shots in a short period of time. Trying to capture a runner going over a hurdle.

Hi Connie,
There are two ways to go about this. One is to find a camera with a rapid "recovery" time after each picture. I'm not sure what price range you're looking for or what other features you need, but as far as good recovery time goes one to look at is the Sony Cybershot T10, which has a between-shots time of about 1.6 seconds. The Cybershot T30 has the same recovery time but is more expensive.

Both of these cameras also do well with shutter lag time (the time between when you push the button and when the shot actually fires), which will also help you... they both clock in with around half a second of shutter lag, which is also definitely on the fast side in comparison to most cameras.

Keep in mind that if you're using flash the recovery time between photos will slow down considerably- that is pretty much universal no matter what camera you're using.

The other way to address your situation is to look for a camera with a good "continuous shooting mode," or "burst mode," which is a mode you can set the camera to so that it fires many shots in quick succession automatically, without you having to push the button each time. After the series of shots is over the camera will have to take a minute to process them, but this rapid-fire shooting is excellent for taking pictures of fast events like you described.

For good burst mode, the Canon EOS 20D has gotten excellent reviews (it's on the pricey side though), and the Pentax Optio W20 is a cheaper alternative that offers two burst modes. It averages anywhere from 1.3 to 3 frames per second depending on how high you set the resolution.

I hope that helps!