Saturday, May 6, 2017

Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim R2R2R by Eric Olsen

This is a recap of my Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim (R2R2R) run on April 28th 2017. If you are not familiar with R2R2R, it is traversing from one rim of the canyon over to the other side and back, and in my case I would be doing this in one day. In total it is 40+ plus miles and gains 11,000 ft in vertical distance. There are a few different route choices, but mine was to start at the South Rim on the South Kaibab trail, to the North Rim on the North Kaibab and back up the South Kaibab (SK-NK-SK). This was the shorter of the route choices at 42 miles, but was steeper than going back up Bright Angel, which would have added 2.5 additional miles. There is also no water on the SK, which I will explain later.
Preparing for this run was no easy task and it was something I did not take lightly. This would be my longest pure run that did not involve a checkpoint. Prior to this, my longest run was only 20 miles, and I was looking to more than double that with a significant amount of vertical gain. The one thing I had on my side was my experience with long endurance events. I have done many multi-day adventure races and ROGAINE style orienteering events. However, despite that, I was still a little apprehensive on how well I would be able to handle this run. Mentally I knew I could do it, but I was more concerned about my physical ability. I did not want to be that guy being evacuated by helicopter, because in the canyon there are not a lot of options should something go wrong.
A great resource that I utilized for preparation was the ‘Grand Canyon R2R2R Run!’ group on FB. There was plenty of information from other people sharing their experiences. You can also find out about trail conditions, water availability, etc. I checked this page frequently, because there were trail closures on the North Kaibab due to a rock slide that occurred earlier in year. Trail repairs were being done which meant that the trail was closed from 8AM to 4:30PM daily. This posed quite the dilemma on a start time, in order to avoid being turnaround by the trail closure. Option B was to start at midnight to make it past the construction. This would mean running half of the run in darkness, which was not very appealing. Part of the experience of the R2R2R is the amazing scenery. But as luck would have it, the construction band was lifted just 2 days prior to the run. This meant sticking with plan A - a 4:30AM start time.
Sara and I arrived at the Grand Canyon on Thursday and completed all preparations for an early morning start. I laid out all of my gear and made some final decisions on whether or not the items were really necessary to carry. I wore a Salomon AdvSkin5 running vest, so space was at a premium. I counted up my calories to ensure I had enough for the run. I carried 3,200 calories in food. The remaining 1,000 calories would come from my Hammer Perpetuem. My vest holds a maximum of 2.5L of fluid. I opted to only fill the main 1.5L reservoir and only one of my .5L soft flasks in order to save some weight for my decent into the canyon, with plans to fill up the other .5L soft flask later in the run. I alternated between Hammer Heed and Fizz in order to change up my electrolyte intake. After packing up the vest and laying out my clothes, the only thing left to do was get some sleep.




The alarm went off at 3:00AM, leaving time to eat a decent sized breakfast and drive over to the nearest picnic area to the trail head. The picnic area was a ½ mile away, so it was a good warm-up for the legs before the leg-hammerfest began. We arrived at the trail head at about 4:30AM as planned. However, after a bathroom stop and few photo opportunities, the official start time was 4:42AM. This is coincidentally the same time I was born, but was completely unrelated.



The conditions could not have been any more perfect. It was never too cold nor too hot, and it never rained. The temperature at the rim was in the low 40’s at the start, so I wore a thin jacket, but it quickly came off just a few miles in. I never wore it again. The temperatures continued to remain cool for most of the ascent up the North Kaibab. It only ever really got warm on the way back when I was in the lower part of the canyon, but even still there was a nice breeze that kept me cool.
My approach was to break up the run into 7 mile segments. This is basically the distance between available water stops - Phantom Ranch and Cottonwood Campground. The first 7 miles is pretty much all downhill until you reach Phantom Ranch and then it is an uphill for the remaining 14 miles until you top out at the North Rim. Granted the climb between Phantom Ranch and Cottonwood is gradual, but it gets much steeper after Cottonwood.



By the time we reached Phantom Ranch, I had not had much to drink. I checked my bladder and knew I had enough to make it to Cottonwood. I snapped a couple pics and we ran on. This is when Sara took off. This was always expected as she is the stronger runner. We were together but on our own journeys. When I made it Cottonwood I was just about out of water. I refilled my bladder and soft flask and kept moving. There would be one more water stop before the North Rim at Manzanita. The water at the North Rim was still off for the season, so this meant I would have to make it up to the North Rim and back to Manzanita before I could get more water (10.8 miles). Topping off was imperative as the steepest climb was yet to come. I did opt not to fill my second soft flask, which turnout to be ok.

One of the amazing things about the GC is that there is no shortage of awesome scenery. It really keeps your mind occupied and makes the suffering a little more enjoyable. The ascent up the North Kaibab is no exception. Once past Manzanita you get a view to Roaring Springs, a gorgeous, raging waterfall. There are also some towering rock formations that seem as tall as skyscrapers. Running on a Friday in early spring, trail traffic was light, so I got to enjoy most of these views alone. Personally I take more pleasure in viewing nature alone rather than with groups of people.


It took me 2 hours to get from Manzanita (Pump House Residence) to reach the North Rim. I arrived in just over 6 hours. I was stunned that I had made it there as fast as I did. It was such a confidence boost and my energy level shot up. I thought to myself that I might be able to actually do this in 12 hours, which is a lot shorter than I had originally planned. However, in order to do it, I knew I had to hustle. Sparing little time, I turned around and started to head back. The upside was it was going to be downhill for the next 14 miles. Going uphill and downhill uses totally different muscles, so it was a nice reprieve to be going downhill again after a long uphill.



I started thinking about the upcoming milestones. By the time I would make it back to Manzanita I would have my first marathon, and midway between Cottonwood and Phantom Ranch I would have my first 50K. This only brought me more energy, so I just kept running. I stopped at Manzanita to fill up on some water, ate some food and I was back on the trail. I sailed right thru Cottonwood since I did not need any water. My next and last stop would be Phantom Ranch before my final ascent. The 7 miles between Cottonwood and Phantom felt long. I attribute this to the time crunch I put myself on. I wanted to give myself as much time to ascend back up South Kaibab as I could.
At Phantom Ranch I topped off my reservoir and both soft flasks. I saw a bathroom and went inside leaving the door open. This provided me with some shade as I situated my vest. Shortly after a woman arrived and waited in the doorway. I went about my business repacking my vest and chatted briefly with her not realizing I was in the women’s bathroom the whole time. Oops! I thought it was a little strange she was just standing there, but I thought she was just curious about what I was doing. This would be the first time carrying a full load of water, but I knew there was no more water stops until I reached the South Rim, and I knew it was going to be a long grind to the finish and the temperature was rising. It was a good thing that I did, because I did not have much left when I finished.
The start of my ascent up South Kaibab was strong. I was tired but felt good knowing I was close to finishing. However, the more I ascended, the more tired I became. I started eating and drinking just to keep my energy level up. I was starting to feel a little nauseous but I kept moving forward. I started sucking on a Gin-Gin (ginger candy). It seemed to help settle things. I was moving slow, but was making progress forward. I knew I could not stop if I wanted to have a chance to finish in 12 hours, and I never did stop. But I was just not moving fast enough to make it. I watched the time tick away on my watch as the 12 hour mark came and went. I knew I was close. I just had to keep going. I was a couple switchbacks away when I saw the top. At that point my adrenaline took over and literally sprinted up the remainder of the trail. I’m sure it wasn’t much of a sprint but it felt a lot faster than I was moving prior to that. I reached the South Rim in 12hr and 12mins. Although I missed the 12 hour mark, I was elated to be done and to have completed the run.


Overall, the R2R2R was an unforgettable experience. I was super pleased with how the day went. My body held up just fine. My Salomon Ultras and Hammer Swiftwick compression socks were a great combination. They kept my feet happy the whole time. I end up eating only half of my food for a total caloric intake of about 2,500 calories. It was tough but doable run. I thought the R2R2R might be a one-and-done type run, but I have a pretty good feeling I will be back for more.

  

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