Grand Canyon Rim-To-Rim-To-Rim

According to some reputable sources (hee) the total is 13,100', making this almost a double Pikes Peak marathon. I'm expecting the National Parks Topo! database any day, and will upload maps and profile information when it arrives.

This is a fantastically beautiful and fun run. I had no idea what to expect on my first ultra, but it was less difficult than I expected. Yes, the ten miles at the end sucked hard, but it was a worthwhile adventure run that I'm always going to look back on fondly. I'd recommend this to anyone who can run half- distances with no problems, and wants a full day of adventure.

Camping is free just outside the South Rim entrance station and the town of Tusayon (sp?), on FS roads. Makes it easy and cheap to get to the parking lot for your super-alpine start.

I'd be curious to know the exact elevation change for the full 48-mile RRR. I wouldn't disagree that it might be more like 13,000+ feet rather than the 11k estimates I've heard/read about. Heck, it felt like 113,000 feet!

It's now nearly 2 months after my first and only RRR completion (Nov 6th), and I'm almost recovered... The back of my knee (PCL, maybe?) seems to have stretched out and is slowly getting better. (Probably from screwing up my form while running w/ cramping calves!) I'm finally running again and am up to a whopping 6 miles w/o too much pain. The things we do.... I'm ready to try again in the Springtime!

Hats off to anyone who can even complete this one. I've hiked Bright Angel and Kaibab trails. This has to be some of God's finest work, it is beautiful!

...BUT...if this is only 8.5/10 difficulty, then you are truly amazing trail runners. Well done!

With respect the the elevation change, we got a hair over 14,000 up/down on altimeter watch when we just did it. Conditions were great until top of North Rim where there was still some snow, and then the entire way up South Kaibab where we were pounded with rain/hail and snow (April 28th). We walked a bit more than half and still came in at about 14:30. The calves suffered way more than anything else. What a run!

October 21, 2005, started at 2:00 in the morning. I was not in the greatest of shape, and this was my first ultra, but I had completed a sub-4 marathon three weeks before. Started from North Rim. This late in the season, going out and coming back, missed many views in the North Rim area as we did this in the dark going and returning. The return in the evening up the North Rim was grueling, but not to my running partner.

Next time, I'll carry less water. Plenty along the trail. Two litres are sufficient to have.

Well...it's that time of year again...well, the time of year we decided to give it another go anyway.

We're headed up there again on 4/29 to do R2R2R. Should have about 4 or 5 of us going (a dozen or so total doing various distances that day) and plan to start around 3 or 4 am to see if we can finish in the daylight. Gotta get in a few more longer runs though or I'm toast!

Looking for people to do rim2rim2rim 10/06

I'm looking for a couple of people to run the rim2rim2rim the weekend of October 7th this year...posibly someone who has done it before. This will be my first ultra, but I'm a good marathoner and have been training hard. E-mail me if you're interested. Thanks!

Any experience doing R2R2R in May? (say..the middle of May?). Is the temp on floor still bearable at that point? Any guidance would be appreciated.

I aam going to hike (nhoy run) the R2R2R Oct 12th of this year (07). Anyone out there interested in joining me. I will be starting out at S Kaibab at around 4AM and trying to finish in less than 21 hours. I will be 61 at the time, but should be in excellent shape at that time. I am a no nonsense hiker with a great sense of self and sense of humor. I did an up and down 5 years ago without real hiking shoes and no poles (it was a spur of the moment thing, during a visit to Sedona). Yes, I was hurting, but made it in 9 hours. This time, I will be ready. I say this to insure anyone that might respond that I will make it and I need anyone joining me to be equally self-assured with ample justification.

We did the R2R2R on May 20, 2006, and the weather was tolerable. We started at 4am, reached the North Rim at 10am, and finished just before 6pm. We hiked the Bright Angel Trail both ways, simply because of transportation issues to the South Kaibab trail head. Going back through the box (~ base of the north rim until Phantom Ranch) was very hot and mind numbing, but the final stretch up the Bright Angel Trail was not too bad, especially after Indian Gardens (the sun was starting to set at the rim by then, and other day hikers were all over). I carried three 20oz water bottles, a zip-lock bag full of powdered Gatorade, salt pills, and of the food I brought, I used 20 goos, and 6 oz of salami.

Just returned from R2R2R completed last week of May 07. This is a good time to try it I think. The lower canyon was in the low 90s during this time of year, and North isn't in danger of snowing in toward the end of May.

We were testing our fitness having never done this before, and took a break between the two.

We only ran the 7 mile section on from North between Cottonwood and Phantom, but finished in under 9 hrs. N to S rim.

Agree with bringing two quarts - unless the temp is over 100. There is no water coming down/up S Kaibob, but water is plentiful on N Rim Bright Angel, where most of the mileage is.

We used special salt / electrolyte supplement pills, and Gookinaid. Gookinaid does not have sufficient salt for extreme high temperature we felt. This combo worked well, and we were very energetic on the final hike up S Kaibob.

anyone interested in doing R2R2R on Sept 29? 2 of us marathon runners are giving it a shot - hoping for 14 hours.

Hi Michael,

I'm doing it on the 23rd, let me know if your plans change.

JUNE 3 2007 -This was my first attempt at anything like this. I ran, walked, and crawled,(nearly)my way to finish in just under 19:00 hours. I began my run at 12:45a.m.to stay out of the sun and beat the heat as well as i could. Starting temp was 54 derees, however,things changed a bit on the return trip. It reached a sweltering 119 in the box canyon, finishing out the run in the upper 70s. This was my crash course in body managment; water-fuel-salt-heat+cold. I barely made it out under my own power, thanks to the help of some very generous runners I met on the trail..Thanks for the salt tablets! I\'ll be back again soon, only next time I\'ll be more prepared to handle the task at hand.

10/5/2007, Completed my 4th rim to rim to rim (R3), best time was in 1999 at 16 hrs and 4 minutes. I follow the traditional route of the descent of the Bright Angel to Tonto East to South Kaibab to the River and up and down the North Kaibab and then the final ascent of the Bright Angel. The addition of the Tonto gives the participant the full forture of 50 miles. Due to previous knee operations, I do not run any portion of the trails and use trekking poles with a hydration pack consuming over 6,000 calories during the event. I have attemnpted 2 R4s in under 24 hours but wasn't successful in either. I may attempt one more before I turn 60 in 2009. It's a great event but hard on the toenails.

I've done North Rim to South Rim in about 9 hours and want to try the RRR. I'm looking to join a group that is planning on doing this Spring 2008?

Looking for other R2R2R's for a mid Oct 2008 hike/run. I have done this 6x best time was just under 19:00. Would like to hook up with other adventure runners for this years R3.