November 2025. Ninghai.
The trail-running season was winding down, and the mountain air was turning cold.
A group of athletes who had just stumbled at UTMB
lined up at the start, carrying their setbacks, ready to find themselves again on this course.
I followed them with the camera — through the night and into the day,
from the ridgeline down to the finish, from silence back into laughter.
I watched some fall and get back up; I watched some stand on the summit for a long, long time.
I couldn’t run for them. I could only watch from the sideline.
And watch them turn the road they had already walked into their own answer.
They made it. And I was happy for them.
“Once you’ve lost, winning again is a different kind of courage.”