Behind the Image: No-Man's Land

An Image to Encapsulate "The Race of No Return" in China’s Gobi Desert
Nikon N90S with a 24-120 mm lens
By Abrahm Lustgarten

Imagine walking a section of the Silk Road—not a touristy strip with souvenir stands, but an actual stretch of the old, abandoned road deep in the heart of western China. As if that weren’t fantastic enough, add the dimensions of a grueling competition that stretched across unforgiving terrain under a relentless desert sun: a 150-mile footrace that traces that old road for six days—in six consecutive marathons. This was the Gobi March, an ultra-endurance event I photographed in 2003, and one of the greater challenges for me personally, both physically and as a photographer.

When you shoot an event like this, the tempting strategy is to catch the start, finish, and if you’re ambitious, maybe a mile or two into the course. But the true substance of the event—the grinding, grueling traverse across 13,000-foot mountain passes and remote stretches of dunes that the 48 racers ran, walked, and limped over in 126-degree heat—would be lost to the camera. I wasn’t looking for a few finish-line action shots. I wanted to convey the agony of running six consecutive trail marathons by capturing the private moments deep inside the course.

Each morning I packed a light camera setup, and I set out an hour or so before the start of the race. My pack included food and water, a first-aid kit, and a cleaning and repair kit including air canisters to spray stray dust from my lenses. I got blisters. I pushed myself close to my physical limits. And, when I was present for a moment of camaraderie, pain, despair, or exaltation—all of which occurred regularly deep in the Chinese wilderness—I was there to catch it on film.

This photo was taken on the last day. It had been a long and lonely race. I had been walking with South African racer Andrew Watkins-Ball through the final dunes, about ten miles from the finish in the nearby city of Dunhuong, when he pulled ahead. Along the way, racers had said the experience pushed them to the limits of not only endurance, but psychological stability. And for the entire race I had sought the few photos that could accurately convey the depth of experience each of them shared. When I saw Watkins-Ball scaling one of the largest dunes yet, his feet sinking into the knife ridge, I knew that this image would represent the long, lonely struggle known as "The Race of No Return."

Abrahm Lustgarten in an internationally published, award-winning photojournalist whose work has appeared in Sports Illustrated, Newsweek, and Men's Journal magazines. He most frequently covers social, travel and outdoor adventure subjects, and is a regular contributor to Away.com. You can see more of his work at www.abrahm.com