Autofocus brings many advantages, but when you are trying to get a quick grab shot, its just point and shoot and its matter of luck if the autofocus manages to focus on the correct subject.
With a 35mm lens on full frame, zone focus is relatively straight forward, but I am finding it much more challenging with the 50mm. For the above shot, I prefocussed on a point on the pavement and when my subject reached that point I fired the shutter.
Zone focusing is something I am getting better at but I definitely need more practice.