(just before starting the run at sunrise)
(the last few steps to the rim coming back up) (thanks to my mom for the photos)
I remembered on this run why the Grand Canyon is one of my all time favorite places to run! It is flat out bad ass and so close to Flagstaff it's like cheating. Very lucky...
Run splits:
River-51 minutes
Rim-2 hours 36 minutes 24 seconds
...so close to 2 1/2 hours and felt really good the whole way. Probably walked about 1 mile (very loose approx.) of the run back up the S. Kaibab (definitely the least amount of walking so far). Very excited!
Later, on the run with my parents, we had a nice time exploring the south rim along the Hermit's Rest road. It was pretty cool as it is pretty much flat on a mix of asphalt and single track gravel/dirt and travels right on the edge of the rim for 8 miles from Hermit's Rest to the Bright Angel Trail Head. A good run for someone a bit intimidated by running in the canyon but wants some awesome views and some miles.
Oh yeah... I've also been exploring Observatory Mesa a bunch more, linking mountain bike trails and old two track dirt roads through the pine forest. It is almost endless the link ups and variations one can run up there and it's only 1/2 mile of asphalt from my house to get on the dirt and disappear. I'm kind of surprised that I have spent so much time running the same old loops up there and passed on exploring. Now, it seems the more I explore the more I have to explore. There are just so many options! I guess not having a car is working out so far. I'm really getting to explore all the nooks and crannies and appreciate what is close to home.
I remembered on this run why the Grand Canyon is one of my all time favorite places to run! It is flat out bad ass and so close to Flagstaff it's like cheating. Very lucky...
Run splits:
River-51 minutes
Rim-2 hours 36 minutes 24 seconds
...so close to 2 1/2 hours and felt really good the whole way. Probably walked about 1 mile (very loose approx.) of the run back up the S. Kaibab (definitely the least amount of walking so far). Very excited!
Later, on the run with my parents, we had a nice time exploring the south rim along the Hermit's Rest road. It was pretty cool as it is pretty much flat on a mix of asphalt and single track gravel/dirt and travels right on the edge of the rim for 8 miles from Hermit's Rest to the Bright Angel Trail Head. A good run for someone a bit intimidated by running in the canyon but wants some awesome views and some miles.
Oh yeah... I've also been exploring Observatory Mesa a bunch more, linking mountain bike trails and old two track dirt roads through the pine forest. It is almost endless the link ups and variations one can run up there and it's only 1/2 mile of asphalt from my house to get on the dirt and disappear. I'm kind of surprised that I have spent so much time running the same old loops up there and passed on exploring. Now, it seems the more I explore the more I have to explore. There are just so many options! I guess not having a car is working out so far. I'm really getting to explore all the nooks and crannies and appreciate what is close to home.
Is there a FNT for the S Kaibab?
ReplyDeleteI don't know what it is but I have read online an account of doing it in 2 hrs 20 minutes...I bet it has been done a bit faster though. I could see people pushing close to 2 hours or maybe even, dare I say, going under 2 hours. It is really hard to find info about fast times on the interweb. I'm kinda suprised because it is such an obvious classic run in the canyon and it seems to me that just about every trail runner in Flagstaff has trained on that trail. There has got to be some very fast times floating around out there...
ReplyDeleteJust read Jason Wolfe's account of trying to break the R2R2R record this last spring and he notes that he had run a 1 hr 12 min split from the river to the south rim a couple weeks before. So...I have ran 50 minutes from the south rim to the river and if someone like Jason Wolfe runs equal to that time or faster (not a problem I'm sure) and then runs a 1 hr 12 min split back to the rim then it's very possible to push or go under 2 hours on Rim to Rim on the S. Kaibab I think...
ReplyDelete