The 460 kilometre, two-day, off-road Finke Desert Race will rip through the red dust of Central Australia for its 50th anniversary from Friday, and Arrernte man Alan Henderson has been there for half of them.

"Born in the Red Centre" and turning 50 this year, Henderson was watching on in the early days as a child.

His first time racing in the Finke was 1998, returning to the start line on the South Stuart Highway every year since, with the very rare exception.

There are a few more aches and pains these days, he joked, but Henderson's not in it to win it, only to improve on the years gone by.

"It's a bit of an addiction," Henderson told National Indigenous Times.

In 1976 the Finke started as a 'there and back' challenge from Alice Springs to the Finke River raced by a group of local motorbike riders.

Half a century later it's grown to see hundreds of contestants race every year on bikes, cars and buggies along sections of the old Ghan Railway to the small community of Aputula before turning around.

Its reputation is as one of the most testing, difficult courses across some of the most remote corners of the world.

More than 12,000 people camp along the racetrack to witness each year, per estimates.

"So when you're looking at putting four to 500 bikes on a 220k track, plus the cars also race the same track...you can imagine the track deteriorating, it's got bulldust, rocky sections...it's got everything," Henderson said.

"The dust, then the traffic, everyone trying to squeeze on that track and do their best, that's where all the fun begins."

Henderson remembers his first race on a 250cc two-stroke.

His mind was made up quickly to come back the following year, and he did, on a KTM 540, top of the range at the time.

Originally from Alice, Henderson is now Darwin-based.

It means a "nice and convenient 15-hour drive down the Stuart Highway" to get there, he said with a laugh, but an opportunity to come home and back for a big part of his life.

An outright top 40 finish around 20 years ago was his best result on paper. In 2025 Henderson finished second in his class — the 45-54 age bracket.

For an amateur rider, that's a decent result, he said. As is the milestone he'll notch this weekend.

"I'm not there to win it, but I'm a little bit competitive. Each year I like to look to improve on a few things I can do a little bit differently. You learn a few things each year," Henderson said.

"I got second in my class last year, so that's another little incentive. Trying to just aim and get a top five in my class is something I sort of aim and strive for. That's my goal.

"I'm 50 this year. So I'm 50 on the 50th Finke, and I've raced 25 of them," Henderson added, "when you have a bit of a snapshot at that, that's not too bad of an effort."

There's always a few other First Nations entrants in the race each year, he said.

While he's "hanging in there", it's always a tough call to say whether or not he'll be at the start line again in another 12 months, admitting it'll be just as difficult to walk away after half his life taking part.

There are future ambitions, however, both personal and for his people.

"It's always been my dream to one day, once my riding is over, to create an Indigenous team," Henderson said.

"Try and get some funding and set up a bit of a team to make the race accessible to our fellow brothers and sisters.

"I've just got to finish one day, that's all.

He added: I might keep plodding along and have a crack at the all-time record. (To have) not only most entrants for the Finke, but being Indigenous, to do it for our people, that's sort of sitting in the back of my mind."

For the moment, it's camaraderie and a 'Finke Family' which keeps drawing him back.

"When you see people waving you, cheering you on, when you have a stack people just pop out of the blue from nowhere and help you up with the bike, pat you on the back and tell you to keep going with a stubby in their hands, that's the sort of stuff that that makes it the event it is," Henderson said.