The Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim (R2R2R) route in the Grand Canyon is 68 km with 3,300m of elevation gain, from South Kaibab trailhead, crossing the Colorado River, then up to North Kaibab trailhead before returning back to the start. I've run this twice before, once in 2016 when I was relatively new to mountain running, and once in 2019 with Marc. In 2019 we had lots of fun, but I was terribly undertrained and not satisfied with my sufferfest performance. My personal record (PR) was 12:55 from 2016. In comparison, the FKT by Jim Walmsley is 5:55, and I always like to go under 2x the FKT in races and adventures. That means 11:50 target for the R2R2R.
The weather forecast was perfect, cool and dry. I scoped out the conditions the night before and there was snow and ice up high, so I carried spikes for the north rim.
I started just after 7am, and it was cold, but warmed up
fast as I descended into the canyon. The descent to the river is 10 km, and
it’s tricky and really steep in parts. My main goal was to be safe (no
falls) but also to run strong and fast. I made it down to the river
in just over an hour feeling good.
Section 2 is the 15 km floor that gains 600m. I ran as much as possible, ate and drank consistently, hiked the steep parts but ran everything I could. Not a fast run, just fast enough to tick off the distance as efficiently as possible. I don’t know how much time this section took, but I must have been moving pretty well. I got to the North wall and started the 1,100m climb to the North rim. I love climbing, and had my poles so got into a nice uphill rhythm. There was lots of snow and ice at the top (2,500m above sea level) so the spikes came in handy.
I got to the North rim (halfway point) in 5:10 elapsed which is crazy fast for me. Since the second half is easier with the downhill floor I thought I might actually negative split the day.
After about 3 minutes on the North rim I started the descent back down. This was fine, just tricky and slippery, but I ran it safe and efficiently and my legs responded well. I continued to eat and drink, and it warmed up as I approached the canyon floor. The weather forecast was 19 degrees on the floor, but luckily I was in the shade for much of the day so that helped a lot.
I was excited to get to the floor, the 15 km section with 600m of downhill. My legs felt great, and I was ready to run. However, now I was 45 km into the day, and I just wasn’t moving as fast as I wanted. In my mind I felt like I was running 6 min/km pace, but my watch kept saying 7 min/km pace. Not bad, but I was starting to feel the fatigue from pushing for so long. I eventually made it to the South end of the floor and fueled up well before the final climb. I changed my shirt and got out extra gear as it was going to get cold and dark on the way up.
I crossed the Colorado River with 8:55 elapsed, with 10 km and 1,400m ahead to finish. I was convinced I could do this in 2 hours, finishing sub 11. Figured that’s 5 km with 700m elevation gain per hour, 12 min/km pace, easy right? I pushed and pushed all the way up, and after 1 hour I had covered 4.5 km of the 10 km total. I didn’t give up, I ate and drank, cranked up heavy metal, and pushed the climb so damn hard to try to get in sub 11. Nothing special about finishing under 11 hours, I just wanted to bury myself out there and get everything out of my legs and head. I realized in the final km that I’d go over 11 hours, but was still on a great pace. It was dark and snowing when I cracked the South rim in 11:03 with tears of joy.
The day was near perfect, the conditions were great, and 11:03 will be my PR for the R2R2R forever. My legs hurt like hell today, but I couldn’t be happier.
