One More Lap

Words can’t really describe how nervous I was when it came time to start production on this film. When I pitched the idea to my class, my professor laughed at the thought of me standing in the middle of the Tennessee mud, filming guys walking in a loop for hours on end. Everyone else I told gave me the same confused look, the one that read “why, what’s the point, it’s just people walking in a circle.” I flew out with my dad anyway, to a state neither of us had ever been to, and asked people we’d never met if we could sit them down and film them. Then I listened. The conviction behind these athletes’ words, their reasons for being there, their will to either win or just prove to themselves they could do it, made it clear this was never about walking in a circle.

I remember in the middle of the night, after the rain had stopped and the last few contestants had set off on their lap, realizing just how quiet it was. All I could hear was the crackling fire and the muffled conversation between the race director and a few others. Standing there, drenched, tired and hungry, it all hit me at once. Besides the people directly connected to this race, no one knew we were there. In the middle of the Tennessee forest, filming a documentary, in the cold wet dark. If I hadn’t come, only a few dozen people would know this race existed, let alone that it was happening right then. That is when I understood the real duty and purpose of a documentary filmmaker.

What I was able to do with One More Lap was embed myself in a community I’d otherwise have no reason to be in. I don’t run ultra-marathons, I don’t live in Tennessee, I don’t ruck. I didn’t belong there, and they accepted me anyway, trusting me to film them in their darkest moments. I got to carry stories of people from across the country back to L.A. and to my school, to people who would have gone their whole lives without knowing any of it. That to me is beautiful.

I’m sure I’ll make grander documentaries in the future, ones that hold more struggle and are filmed in worse and worse conditions. But One More Lap will always have a special place in my heart. Facing my fear of being a leader, of meeting new people, of filming in harsh conditions, that was my struggle. I’ll forever be grateful to Hardwin Adventures and to the contestants for letting me document a small part of their personal endurance journeys.