How to shoot the world’s most gruelling race

Photographer R. Perry Flowers documented the 2023 edition of the Winter Death Race and talked through the experience in Huck 81.

In rural Vermont, every February, you’ll find one of the hardest races on earth. Lasting over 60 hours, there’s no finish line. The organiser decides when it ends and the gruelling race comprises many soul-sapping ice and snow-based challenges. Photographer R. Perry Flowers went and documented the 2023 race and has just released his own publication of what went on.

Am I right that the call of shooting the Great Outdoors pulled you away from living and working in the bright lights of New York?

I grew up in New York and when I started working in photo, I began by assisting a lot of other photographers, who were primarily shooting fashion and beauty. Those subjects weren’t necessarily my style, but I learned to appreciate the technical aspects and fast pace of large productions. I always knew that I didn't want to stay in New York, and didn't want to shoot fashion forever. My passion was for the outdoors and any sport that allowed me to do that. My wife has family ties to Maine, so when we had the opportunity to move here, it was really about access to the outdoors. Ultimately it was a natural progression to combine photography with sports and nature.

How has that move changed the way you photograph?

I think it's really helped to define my style. Even though my subject matter can be gritty or raw, I think it still can have a polish to it. Just because you're shooting a situation that's hard or intense, doesn't mean it can't look elevated. That's from my background in the fashion and commercial photo world. I still love to nerd out about lighting. People are still my favourite thing to photograph. Now I get to convey so much more emotion in my work. A portrait of someone halfway through running 100 miles captures a person’s emotions much more naturally than a staged set.

What is it about shooting in nature that you love best?

I love the unpredictability of it and the constant need to reassess and adapt. If the only direction you're given is "capture this runner going over a mountain pass” - it gives you so much opportunity to be creative. I love asking the questions: How do I show them in relation to the geography? How do I light this to convey the emotion I'm trying to capture? Is the weather working for or against us? Not to mention I'm out there experiencing a little piece of the same thing my subject is. You're both cold and tired. It creates more of a connection with a subject, like we're in this together.

So tell us the story of how you found yourself in freezing Vermont shooting one of the hardest races in the world?

I had gotten into shooting endurance events, and adventure races in particular. I didn't know what the sport was until I shot my first one. Basically it's an orienteering race; traveling just by map and compass, and you're jumping between running, biking, and paddling, and they go for 24 hours plus. I found the best shots were always in the middle of the night; people were exhausted, cold, just pushing through. It really brought the emotion to the forefront, rather than just a picture of someone on a bike. The endurance aspect, in particular the mental endurance, is really what got me.

I started looking for more events that really were pushing that boundary of how far people can stretch their minds and bodies, which led me to the Death Race.

Is it genuinely as brutal as it seems?

Obviously you're accepting some level of risk by competing, but I don't think I'd ever consider anything they were doing 'unsafe'. There was a full team of medics standing by; they'd step in if something goes too far. But the race directors' intention was never to cause harm. I can't speak to exactly what inspired them to come up with some of the challenges, but it seemed to be much more about putting people in situations where you're really questioning 'Am I able to accomplish this?’ I think the directors wanted to see people push through that.

What sorts of things did the competitors have to actually do?

The challenges were all over the place between physical and mental and combinations of both. There were definitely a few tasks that needed to be accomplished as a team, and there was never any sense of competition between contestants. Everyone’s solely competing against themselves. Before racers could even officially 'begin', they had to excavate a tunnel through about 20 feet of packed snow just to enter the barn where it started.

The challenge that made me realise what they were in for was when they had to use an axe to chop the ice out from beneath them on a frozen pond. Any task someone lagged behind on or couldn't finish, they'd be made to do burpees… people would have tabs they kept adding to – thousands of burpees. Night one started with contestants doing laps around a field while tossing 70lb sandbags. Around 1 am, people started doing long cold plunges in the pond. They'd already been going all day; they were tired, cold, hungry, and going under the ice on a frozen pond. That was definitely an 'oh shit' moment for me. One of the mental challenges that sticks out most for me was when racers were asked to memorise a quote from Ernest Shackleton beforehand. After carrying a load of firewood up a mountain that night, they had to recite the quote, then memorise another quote on the spot and recite it verbatim when they got back down to the bottom. I could only imagine how exhausted they were at this point.

As a photographer was there almost too many things to try and catch? Were you setting up shots or just shooting on the run and hoping?

It was definitely a mix of both. The race directors kept their cards close to their chest… they weren't telling any of the other staff what any of the challenges would be beforehand. I think some of it they were coming up with on the spot, so you had to be able to pivot really quickly. Around 1am on the first night, I was downloading cards and starting to pack up, thinking they'd just be doing more of the same challenges they'd been doing all night when I heard on the radio they were heading down to the pond. I'd brought a couple of strobes for this job, knowing there'd be a lot of nighttime shots, but I ended up lighting the cold plunges with just headlamps. There were too many moving parts and variables; it was definitely chaotic; I just had to focus on covering whatever was going on. I love working like that; I thrive in chaotic situations. There was also plenty of opportunity to set up shots – a lot of the challenges were so repetitive; some were just the same thing for hours, it really gave you the opportunity to experiment and to try different things.

How gruelling was it for you to be documenting and moving around the course for 60 hours? You must have got your steps in.

Luckily I enjoy running around the woods in the middle of the night. Ironically, this wasn't one of the more physically demanding shoots I've done. Everything took place on the same property in Vermont, so I was able to have a home base; I didn't have to hike with everything I'd need for the whole shoot with me, or drive around and work/sleep out of my car. During repetitive challenges, I was able to sneak off and get a couple of hours of rest if it seemed like the racers would be at something for a while and I felt like I'd covered it. That's not to say it was an easy job. I’d be monitoring radio traffic even in my downtime, in case something came up that I really wanted to cover. I definitely got to hike up and down the mountain a few times.

Did you train for it?

I didn't do any sort of formal training; I wasn't sure how physically demanding it would be on my end. I do try to keep a certain level of fitness; both because of activities that I do on my own (trail running, ski touring, etc), and also to be able to keep up with my subjects, who oftentimes end up being athletes.

Did you make friends with the competitors as you were out there with them? Or did they blank you out, focused on the race?

I wouldn't say I made friends with any of them, but I did feel an intimate connection with the competitors. They were pushing their minds and bodies to the absolute limit; they're feeling such an intense range of emotion, and I was right there with them, I wasn’t on a long lens shooting from far away. It was so surreal to be capturing such intense emotions, but you can't intervene in any way. It felt voyeuristic; almost like I was benefitting from their suffering. But I can't speak to how the competitors themselves felt about it. They were so in the zone; we might have exchanged some quick small talk, but I could tell they were singularly focused and blocking out any distractions.

It went on over three nights, are they allowed to get any decent rest at all? Did you get any rest at all?

Like I mentioned above, I was able to sneak in some rest here and there, though it certainly wasn't my best sleep by any stretch of the imagination. For the competitors, there wasn't any scheduled 'downtime'. I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of them tried to get a few minutes of rest just laying down on the side of the trail. On the final afternoon, the last three competitors (who ended up being the only finishers), were given a floor to rest on for a few hours before completing the last challenge. I can only imagine how hard they slept then.

Was there a point during the race where you thought things had got too hard and no one would finish?

One of the tricky parts was that there was no set end goal… no finish line to cross, or set amount of time they had to endure. I think it finally ended when the directors decided the racers had gone through enough. Through the first day and into the second morning, people were dropping out pretty consistently. When it got down to the final three, it was obvious how determined they were. They were willing to endure anything, and it seemed to me that they would keep going indefinitely, or at least until they were pulled for medical reasons.

Was it always your plan to produce a publication of your photos?

Initially I didn’t have the intention to print anything. It wasn't until after and I had sat on the images for a little bit that it came together as a story. The images struck me as so raw and emotional that I felt they needed something tactile. The quality of the newsprint really lends itself to that raw, tactile feeling. You can get a copy here.

How were the three finishers after they eventually got to the end?

I can't imagine what was going through their heads of the final three when they finished. There was a range of disbelief, stoicism, and relief. The only female finisher, Kelly’s reaction, struck me the most. She had competed the previous year and been pulled after she developed frostbite.. I think she said it took her a few months to fully recover. She seemed to be having a really strong emotional reaction every time she had to go in the water. I'm sure the relief she felt after finally finishing must have been enormous?

Did… did anyone die?

Nope! And as far as I know, no serious injuries either!