A Long Way From Nowhere

2023· 60 min★ 5.9· Documentary

What compels a person to run 150 miles through the desert at the height of summer? Is it the need for achievement, the competitive instinct, or something deeper? A Long Way From Nowhere is a different sort of extreme sports film—one centered not around winning or extraordinary spectacle—but instead one focused upon the human spirit—on why individuals, knowingly or not, seek out some of the harshest climates on earth—in this case, southern Utah in June—and push themselves to, and sometimes beyond, the breaking point. Amongst the disparate cast of characters in this film is a veteran suffering from PTSD, a widowed single father, and a female police officer working in the field of human trafficking. Each undertakes the 150-mile Desert Rats stage race, each their darkest hour, and each, through the curious alchemy of extreme hardship and desert solitude, emerges with a new understanding of what it is to be human.

Cast: Tim Barr, Phil Pinti, Jason Comstock

Director: Chris Ward, Paul T. Scheuring