As David Miller talks through his selection of his favourite running images, is there a single word that sums up his photography. ‘Exhaustion’ perhaps? He goes for ‘isolation’.

‘When I started shooting events, I knew I wanted to capture the realer side of the sport,’ he says. ‘I’m not sure if “gritty” is the right word. The “unpolished” side? In the bigger, Hollywood-type events, it can be harder to find the human moments, but in something like the Barkley Marathons, it’s just there for you.’

Miller’s best-known photo comes from the Barkley, the extreme Tennessee ultramarathon known for being nearly impossible to enter as well as being nearly impossible to finish. He was there at the now iconic yellow gate in 2024 to capture Jasmin Paris collapsing after becoming the first woman ever to complete its dastardly five loops, less than two minutes from the cut-off.

‘This is one of the greatest sporting moments of all time, in my opinion,’ he says. ‘It’s very important for women’s running. Lazarus Lake [race founder] famously said that no woman would ever finish this race, and she proved him wrong. It gives me goosebumps thinking about it.

‘We saw her at the fire tower on the last lap, and she looked like she was on a mission, but the experienced people I was with still thought she’d get back about three hours after cut-off. Back at the camp later, this little girl at the bottom of the road shouted: “She’s coming!” I was panicking to get my gear ready as this red missile came round. I got my camera out and got on the floor, ready, because I predicted she was going to drop. If I’d been standing, I wouldn’t have got the previous finishers in the shot: John Kelly and Jared Campbell. And most people don’t know that’s Laz’s hand in the top left.

‘I don’t think I’ll ever take a picture like that again. I’ve heard stories about people printing it out and putting it next to their bathroom mirror, so they can look at it in the morning and think: “You know what, I am going to get out and do this run today. If Jasmin can do it, I can do it.”’

David Miller’s upcoming photographer book, Spine, can be pre-ordered now.