Grand Canyon Run Rim To River May 2024 Age 60
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- čas přidán 5. 09. 2024
- May 25, 2024, I celebrate 10 years since having final stage testicular cancer, with a 17.5mi Rim To River run, at the Grand Canyon. This is also a great trail to hike.
I am currently 16 months post-op on the High Tibial Osteotomy surgery on my right leg, and at 14 months post-op on the HTO surgery of my left leg. I had the 2 plates and 16 screws removed 5 months ago, in early December 2023, and started running again, 3 weeks after that surgery, on Jan. 1, 2024.
Video series on my HTO surgery recovery here: • Valencia Peak Run In V...
Please DM me if you have any HTO questions. I'm happy to discuss the experience and offer suggestions that may be helpful.
The Rim To River Route:
Descend via the S. Kaibab trail. 6.5mi and 5,000' of vertical descent, to the Colorado River, and the Black Bridge. Cross the bridge, running 1mi further, into Phantom Ranch. Exiting the Canyon via Silver Bridge, the 2mi River Trail, and then up the 7.5mi Bright Angel Trail. This is also called; The Cowboy Loop.
This is my 5th Rim2River since I began running it on Memorial Day weekend, 2020, the morning after the National Park was reopened. It's become a favorite run, and also a great "early season" fitness and training test. The goal of this particular run, was to treat it as a trail half marathon race.
Gear I'm using:
Hat:
Sunday Afternoons "Compass" hat
Shirt:
Nike ProCombat "dri-fit" fabric with perforated back and underarm/side panels.
Artwork by Kate
Shorts:
B.O.A. 1.5" full split short
Underwear:
(to prevent chaffing, and not be soaking wet with sweat)
"Knitlord" bikini brief made with bamboo fiber and 5% spandex.
Found on Amazon
Gear Belt:
Naked Running Band
Drink Flasks:
500ml/17oz Camelbak soft flask
620ml/21oz Camelbak soft flask
Shoes:
Vibram FiveFinger V-Trail 2.0
I don't wear socks in them
Electrolyte Mix:
Liquid I.V. in 2 flavors; Lemon/Lime, and "Energy Multiplier" Lemon-Ginger
I used 3 of the 4 mix packets that I brought.
Gels:
GU Roctane, both with and without caffeine, take at about 50min intervals.
I used 3 of the 5 GU that I brought.
Food:
8 peeled tangerines, and I at 6 or 7 of them
Large handful of very ripe pineapple (let your pineapple sit on the kitchen counter until the leaves wilt an the pineapple turns golden!! HEAVEN!!!)
Back up plan:
A 5 Hour Energy Drink Bottle.
Additional supplements:
First soft flask of the day gets 2 magnesium lysinate pills, broken in half, 1 vitamin B complex 100 pill, and 1-1/2 scoops of MRM "Reload" BCAA+G." Each flask refill gets 2 more magnesium pills, but no Vit B pill, and no MRM "reload."
Camera:
2019 era DJI "Osmo" Action 1 with Rock Steady and 4k turned on
Camera stick:
40 inch long cell phone stick, with integrated tripod feet that fold inward to create the grip handle.
If you're planning to hike, backpack, or run below the rim, check weather, temperature, trail conditions and water supply conditions, both on the NPS website www.nps.gov/gr... and on the Trail Head Kiosks or signs, located right at the trail head. It's not uncommon for issues with the water pipeline to cause certain water stops to be shut down, or turned back on, on short notice. Trail and water conditions are currently in a state of flux for the next year or longer, due to the water pipeline replacement that is ongoing.
Tips for running and hiking in the Grand Canyon, if I may:
Best times of year to hike and run:
-DO NOT HIKE OR RUN IN THE GRAND CANYON IN JUNE AND JULY
-The best months for hiking and running Rim To River and Rim-To-Rim are late April through the end of May, and mid-August through the end of October.
-Use your training to determine how fast you can comfortably travel over extremely tough, steep, terrain, with all your gear, add 40% to that per mile time, and then you'll have a reasonable idea of how long it will take you to get to the very bottom of the Grand Canyon, where it is the most dangerous, due to the elevated temperatures. You can use this link at the Nation Weather Service Website, to view current, and predicted temps on the South Rim: forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lon=-112.14637756347658&lat=36.040476129837344 Click your cursor on the river area, just about the green box on the map (that this link shows) and that will give you current and predicted temps at the Colorado River and Phantom Ranch area. Click your cursor on the plateau at the other side of the map, to see North Rim temps.
Do the math on your pace, and pick a start time for your hike that allows you to get to the bottom of the Canyon, BEFORE 7am.
NEVER start a hike or a run late, because you will literally be hiking or running into the hottest part of the day, be trapped in the sweltering heat in the Gorge area of the canyon, and you risk death.
IF, due to age, health, obesity, lack of fitness, lack of balance, inability to operate under an athletic work load at high altitude, bad feet/ankle/knee/hip joints you are not able to maintain a solid pace, whether walking, or running, stay out of the Canyon, during May through October. The 2 recent deaths (May and June 2024) in the Canyon were in the Gorge, alongside the Colorado River, on the River Trail, and the most recent one was an obese man in his 60's
Nutrition and Hydration:
-Avoid inflammatory foods (cashews and peanuts are extremely inflammatory and absolutely wreck your digestive system), and foods that contain weird ingredients like carnuba wax (jelly beans, gummies, blocks, etc.) which also wrecks your stomach. Dr. Gundry has a "Yes and No Food List" on google, so you can cruise through that, and significantly change your health, and also fuel better during an endurance event like hiking, backpacking, and running in the Grand Canyon.
-Eat simple, easily digested foods, like you would normally eat (nothing new on race day, mentality). Peeled tangerines are heaven, and so is extremely ripe pineapple. Let a pineapple sit out on your counter until the leaves wilt and the body turns golden, and the inside, including the core, will be amazing. Acidic stuff like this on an endurance run is fantastic, and because it's acidic, your stomach isn't getting "food" that makes it want to ramp up it's acid level. Tangerines and pineapple, (look up their nutritional facts) are packed full of the kind of nutrients you need to be fueling with, including "Whole Vitamin C" which is really important.
-Avoid anything with oils or grease because there's no way your stomach is going to attempt to digest that, so it's going to sit there like a brick, and destroy you.
-Watch out for the contents of "bars" for the same reason as oils. They're packed full of inflammatory grain, and just become in indigestible brick.
-Read the labels on your electrolyte mix and find out what's really in there, and what you're really getting. I use Liquid I.V. in all of their flavors that have sugar. Favorites are the lemon or lemon/lime. Their Lemon/Ginger "Energy Multiplier" flavor has macha green tea, and it's the go-to, for midway through when I'm getting pretty wrecked and need to relight the fires. To the first 21oz flask of the day, I add 1 vitamin B complex 100 pill, and 2 magnesium lysinate pills (Doctors Best Magnesium from Ama z0n) that I break in half. All of my subsequent fill ups get 2 mag pills broken in half. You can visit Dr. Carolyn Dean's excellent website and learn about the importance of magnesium.
-GU Roctane every 45min or so, both with and without caffeine.
-I carry a 5hr energy drink bottle as my back up plan
Let's talk sun exposure for a moment:
Ball caps and short sleeve or tank tops in the Canyon are an absolute recipe for disaster. If you look at how much of your head, face, neck, back of your head and neck, and arms are exposed to the high altitude (less atmosphere for protection from the UV) sun, you literally spend the day being microwaved by the sun. That's a day ender, right there. Full brim hat, like the Sunday Afternoons "Compass" hat (what my daughter and I wear) is what you want. Stiff brim that stays horizontal for maximum shade (as compared to a floppy "boonie" style hat) and allows maximum air flow around your face and neck, so you stay cooler than if you were wearing one of those hats with the curtain that hangs down like a tent and traps heat like a sauna. If you want to run in short sleeves, then wear white arm sleeves. The arm sleeves get sweaty, and then cool you really well, and the loose shirt short sleeves, act like air scoops for the shirt. A dry-fit fabric shirt is a must. A cotton shirt becomes a soaking swamp. I wear the Nike ProCombat with perforated back panel and underarm panels. Mercari/Poshmark/ebay are your friend for those. And a bonus; you don't need sun block, so your skin's pours are open and breathing, and it's one less thing to carry and deal with!
Get your hair wet. That's a must. You also need to soak your shirt and hat. I body core temp creeps up on you in the Canyon, and one minute you're fine, and the next minute you're puking. It's extremely hard to turn that around once it hits. If you are hot enough to be dipping your head, you are too hot already, and should go soak in the creek for 15min or so. After that keep hair/hat/shirt wet for the rest of the day. There's a water spigot on the Colorado side of the trail, 200m before you get to the Black Bridge, if you're coming off, or heading to, the S. Kaibab Trail. There's another spigot about that same distance from the Silver Bridge. That's where to soak one last time, and fill up water if you're going up S. Kaibab or Bright Angel, or if you've just come down them.
Lastly, a tip for running down S.Kaibab. If your fitness level and run speed are such that you can go 7mi without water, don't carry any. It makes a HUGE difference not to have that bouncing weight blowing up your quads and calves on the way down. Have a peeled tangerine or couple slices of ripe pineapple and a GU Roctane as you get past Skeleton, and you're good to go. When you exit Black Bridge, head over to that spigot that I just mentioned, have a drink, wet your hair, and finish that final mile into Phantom... where you can fill bottles for real. Drink one full bottle of electrolyte at Phantom, and you're tanked up and ready to roll.
You did it again!! Wow!
When the Canyon calls, one must answer! 😉
Great run Todd! Glad to see you still hammering!
LOL... Thanks! It's such a great route, and I love running in the Canyon!
Oh man, what a gorgeous trail! Looks like the Great Wall, but much much higher!
The Canyon is an amazing place, especially down inside.
Man, you are one tough dude!
Ha! Thanks for the kind words. Currently in the final weeks of training for my 13th R2R run, mid-August, to celebrate my 61st birthday. Love running in the Canyon.
Todd- Amazing and congratulations on your accomplishment. I was wondering how the knees/legs would handle the "knee wrecker" but you handled it so well. From the shadows it looks like you started right at sunrise. Great vid, sorry to say I have never seen the views you presented as it has always been dark when I have descended the canyon. Outstanding job! -Dr. Bill
Thanks Dr. Bill! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
The Park Service was only operating the "Hiker's Express" Shuttle at 6am and 7am, for the entire month of May. I was on the 6am bus (they pick up from the bus stop located just up and to the right of Bright Angel Lodge, if you're facing the lodge, at 6am and 7am), which meant getting to the trail head at the S.Kaibab at 6:24am, after a stop at the Visitor Center, to pick up even more people. Normally, I ride the 5am bus, but it wasn't being offered.
I'm glad I videoed the run, but it would have been a lot more fun, and a much faster run without the camera.
this is absolutely killer
Thanks! It was an absolute blast. Looking forward to going back, mid-Aug and running another R2R for my birthday.
savage!
lol... Thanks, it was so much fun! It's been a long, hard fought battle to have a level of fitness that allows me to turn this route, and R2R into mere "cross-country" runs. My HTO surgeries last year are a huge contributing factor.
Congratulations!!! How did you manage in the heat? Did you do anything to mitigate that?
Thanks!
I only go to the Canyon when the temps are safe, both in terms of too cold, or too hot. So I always do this run on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. Temps are always 40-45 on the South Rim over night, and 70ish at about noon. At the bottom when I arrive, they'll be about that same 70ish, and due to the decrease in air temp, per altitude gain, they remain that way during the run back to the top.
When I return for my first R2R run (same route you took) in mid-Aug, that's just after their monsoon season (last week of July-first week of Aug), so the temps on the North Rim are in the 40's overnight, 70-75 at the bottom, there's usually cloud cover, and the run to the top is done in something around 75*F. I return the first weekend in Oct, for another R2R run, and temps are 5 degrees less, in all locations.
I'm wearing a Nike ProCombat shirt, which is drifit fabric, perforated on the back, sides, and under arms. So I'm protected from the sun, and there's air moving through the shirt. I get my hair, hat, and shirt wet at all water spigots, and most creek crossings depending on how warm it's getting, and because I'm running in FiveFingers, I get to run through the creeks like a 5yr old, and get my feet wet... which is heaven!
Good job with the quick feet down the South Kaibab. What time did you started? It looks very crowded. It seems that the wind didn't get much better since early May. At least you didn't get more extreme weather. Great job showing the trail condition. You also maintained good pace climbing up the Bright Angel. Did you consider taking a water filter with you, refilling water in those creeks? It seems that you run short of water by the end of climbing the Devil Corkscrew. You definitely convinced me I should attempt hiking the Grand Canyon with even lighter weight than what I usually use. You finished early enough to go out for another lap... ;)
The wind was ridiculous! I had been watching the weather for 3 weeks, so I knew what conditions were going to be like, but still, it was pretty funny up at the top. It was that way when I ran it in May 2022, and I actually brought some wrapping cycling glasses to protect my eyes from the flying sand.
I don't run with a filter or even a life-straw. I was carrying 2 Camelbak soft flasks. One of them is 500ml and the other is 750ml. They were empty for the run down the S. Kaibab, because I don't carry water on that trail. I filled them both at Phantom (which is why I was running with the 500ml in my hand), drank the 500ml first in order to get it out of my hand, and still had the full 750ml laying horizontally in the back panel of my Naked Running Band for the remainder of the run from Devil's to Havasupai Garden. I actually had too much water (mixed with Liquid I.V. electrolytes), and finished that last climb from 1.5mi house to the top, without using the 750ml in the back panel. I wish I would have poured that one out, prior to leaving 1.5mi house! I was running at about 23-25min between each of the last 3 climbs.
Start time was about 0635, because the National Park Service wasn't running the "Hiker's Express" Shuttle at 4 or 5am like they normally do. So the bus was packed solid with people, both sitting, and standing. Ridiculous not to have a 5am bus. All of those people were dropped off at the S. Kaibab trail head, which has 2 toilets.
@@austinado16 It was informative for me watching you completing this hike/run, even as someone who have been to the GC a few times already. Very annoying that the Shuttles start at 6:00am . I lost almost an hour of daylight in my R2R2R because of that. Early May, there were some cars parked near the South Kaibab trailhead early in the morning, and they were still there (covered with snow) when I finished climbing back the south rim towards the end of the day. I can't tell if they got tickets.
@@RubiHammer IMO, the park service has lost their grip on the Grand Canyon, and it started in 2020 with the lock downs, which included the State of Arizona allowing Hwy64. The Grand Canyon S. Rim was always a great example of being well run, well staffed, and well organized. Since 2020, and I believe that Xantera may no longer run all the hotels and restaurants, it's just been limping along, as if this is the first time that anyone's ever had a national park. Them not paying a bus driver for an hour or 2 of labor, to have the buses running like they used too, is insane. Dumping 100 people out onto the S. Kaibab trail all at once, with 2 toilets, 2 or maybe 4 water spigots, and a couple hours later in the day?? What are they thinking?
👏👏👏👏👏👏💞💞💞
Wow! Thank you!
You look familiar, do you or have you run Mt Humfreys in Flag ?
No. This is the only run I do in AZ
@@austinado16 well they say everyone has a twin, plus this guy was in five fingers too. great job at 60 and beating cancer.
@@jakebrakebill Wow, that's kinda funny!
Thanks about the running and the cancer. I actually run in the Canyon as my F*ckYou to cancer. My daughter and I were planning to train and run our first R2R in 2014, and then I got the surprise news. So we decided to do our first one in 2015 mid-Aug, which was exactly a year after I walked out of the chemo lab for the last time, and was also the same time as our birthdays, which are 1 day apart. We did it 5yrs in a row together, and then I started returning in Oct. to run it as a speed run. I added the Rim2River run in May of 2020 as a fitness check for the pending R2R's, and as another way to have a fun run in the Canyon.
@@austinado16 I always say, do your best because you never know who's watching. My grandson loves running and I just sent him your video, he said his mentor wants him to do the Grand Canyon with him. His mom, my daughter-in-law is dealing with cancer right now, so many overwhelming coincidences. Hummm
@@jakebrakebill Geez... so strange!! Your Grandson may enjoy the early vids of my daughter and I running it together. The camera work prior to our 2019 run, isn't great, but he'll get to see us blow up and do the walk of shame a few times. Running there has been a hard fought lesson, and to be able to show up now, and send it like it's one of my high school or college cross-country race courses, is a lot of fun.
3 Rules in the Canyon:
1) The Canyon doesn't care about you
2) The Canyon doesn't let up
3) If you blow up in the Canyon, you owe it a redemption run (or hike)
I hope your daughter-in-law does well with the treatments and continues on with her life as if nothing happened. It's a brutal thing to go through and a brutal process to try to defeat it.