Lucy Schodell: “I Love Seeing the World on My Own Two Feet.” - Ultra Gobi 400KM Race Report
Lucy Schodell from the United States finished the 2025 Ultra Gobi 400km as second woman and sixth overall. She is a highly accomplished ultra-distance runner from New Orleans with some of the toughest 200-plus-mile races on her résumé, including The Speed Project Solo (three times), Moab 240, and The Speed Project Atacama. She knows what it means to move for days, to endure, and to stay patient and steady in remote and unforgiving landscapes.
In a beautiful reflection published on Substack, she looks back on her Ultra Gobi 400km experience, why she chooses distances like these, and what deeper meaning she finds in them.
A Race Measured in Hours, Miles, and Moments
Lucy finished the 400 km in 94 hours, 27 minutes, and 58 seconds, placing 6th overall (tied) and 2nd woman. But if you ask her what mattered most, she will hardly mention numbers.
“Running ultras has never really been about running or the numbers,” she wrote afterward. “It’s about people, community, connection, and adventure.”
For Lucy, the Gobi was both familiar and completely new. She had run multiple 240-mile desert races before. She had spent more than a hundred race-hours with her longtime running partner, Jack Carey, and would add ninety-four more during Ultra Gobi.
But the Gobi offered a new kind of challenge:
Self-navigation.
No course markings.
18-pound packs.
Aid stations with only water and drop bags.
No crew.
No pacers.
“The same but different,” she wrote. “A new kind of challenge. And I love those.”
Utra Gibi 400KM: A Journey Reduced to Its Essentials
During four long days, Lucy and Jack lived at desert pace. Their world shrank to simple tasks: move, eat, navigate, rest briefly, move again.
She shares scenes that define the Gobi experience in a way no official race report ever could:
“We crossed rivers with trash bags on our feet (worked once, failed for the following dozen crossings)”
“We climbed fences, mountains, and dunes.”
“We slept in a sliver of shade under a windmill.”
“We drank instant coffee mixed into Chinese tea.”
“We argued about our GPS tracks.”
“We took many 10-minute naps in the dirt.”
“We saw sunrises that stopped us in our tracks and sand dunes lit up by the full moon at night.”
“At one point, Jack fell asleep mid-stride. Between checkpoints, time lost meaning.
Moments of problem-solving, frustration, laughter, and wonder — often all within the same hour.
Between these stretches of quiet, the race offered something she hadn’t expected: the warmth of the volunteers.
“Our solitude in the desert was punctuated every 5-10 miles by the incredible volunteers. We arrived, always dirty and tired, to cheers and kindness at every single checkpoint. The volunteers could only provide water but their energy did much more to boost our spirits. Their generosity needed no translation app.”
What Keeps Her Running
People often ask why Lucy chooses races this long, this remote, this difficult. Her answers are simple, honest, and deeply her own:
“I love being outside.
I love sharing adventures with people.
I love doing hard things.
I love the belief in myself and my abilities that it fuels.
I love seeing the world on my own two feet.
I love the problem-solving and mind games that one has to play during an ultra.
I love the absurdity of it all.”
And then one more line that describes the heart of Ultra Gobi better than any official slogan ever could:
“Every person out there, from the local family volunteering at a checkpoint to the fellow runners we shared miles with, reminded me of the power that adventure has to connect people.”
Gratitude as a Finish Line
When Lucy and Jack reached Gobi Spring together after 94 hours, they arrived dusty, exhausted, and overflowing with gratitude.
“I’m so grateful to have experienced the Gobi,” she wrote. “I’m grateful for the volunteers and fellow runners who made the experience so special. I’m grateful for the constant support, love, and understanding from my wonderful wife, Maggie, and from Jack’s wife, Jenny. I’m grateful to have a friend like Jack, willing to travel to the other side of the world to run with me.”
And one more thing: together they raised over 10,000 USD to fund scholarships for Live Oak campers.
Beyond Running, It’s Also About Community
Lucy lives and works in New Orleans, a city far removed from the mountains and deserts where she races. There, she serves as Operations Director and part of the founding team of Live Oak Camp, an organization dedicated to reimagining youth leadership and equity through immersive summer camp experiences.
“At Live Oak, we are reimagining leadership for our people and our community. We connect diverse, values-aligned youth from New Orleans at sleep-away camp and then invest in their success all year-round.”
Lucy ended her race report with a question many Ultra Gobi finishers eventually ask themselves: what now?
“Who knows what’s next? Whatever it is, I hope it involves running really far.”
For us at Ultra Gobi, Lucy’s journey is a beautiful example of what this race truly represents: not only endurance, but connection; not only distance, but meaning; not only challenge, but gratitude.
