We continue our series about running Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim (R2R2R) at the Grand Canyon with this little recap Q&A from Charles and Jessica who completed the trek in late April.

Before this adventure we chatted with these two about their GEAR choices and how they were preparing for this journey. If you didn’t get to see that post, check it out HERE.

It wasn’t easy, but these two got out there and completed this massive journey across the Canyon. We talked with them about how it all went.

Check out what they had to say.

What time did you two start?

We woke up at 4:00 am with plans to start running from a nearby parking lot at 5:00 am. We had some oatmeal in our cabin and did final checks on our gear. For each of us, our gear consisted of a 15L running vest with 4,000+ calories of running nutrition, 3L of water and the option to carry an extra 1.5L of water. Not every runner needs to carry this much water and nutrition, but it is better to be safe than sorry.

We drove to the parking lot at the end of the road that leads to the South Kaibab trailhead. We left the car at 5:00 am and started our jog to the South Kaibab trailhead. On our way, we passed a guy who needed directions back to his car because he had just finished doing a R3 overnight and was out of sorts.

Seeing someone in that state was not a great omen to the start.

When we got to the trailhead, there were a few sunrise hikers starting down, and a group of 4 female runners who we would see off and on throughout the day as they were also doing R2R2R.

Did you have specific times in mind to hit certain trails and checkpoints?
If so, where did it take a turn?

We never really set specific times for hitting trails. Our original goal was to finish within 14-16 hours. We were on pace for that up until the climb to the North Rim. At the top, we knew we would be closer to 16.

What went well?

Despite encountering challenges with heat and elevation, what went well for us was our overall endurance and time spent on our feet. We never had a moment where our legs felt like they were going to fail or when we couldn’t continue moving. Our legs did hurt from the challenge, and our feet ached from being in sweaty shoes all day, but we were never at our breaking point.

What went poorly?

It’s difficult to say that things went poorly. We planned and trained really well, but it’s hard to train for heat in the early months of the year.

It was the heat and sun exposure that truly did us in. On the run and climb from Phantom Ranch to the North Rim, you spend a lot of time in the sun on this section. So by the time we got to the top of the North Rim, we felt fairly drained and needed to take time before we set off back down into the canyon. We spent about an hour sitting in some snow, eating a PB&J sandwich, and filling all of our water bottles. When we got down to Manzanita, we stopped to take a quick dip in the stream down there. 

When leaving Manzanita, you literally turn a corner and you start running in the open part of the canyon back to Phantom Ranch. We ran roughly 6.5 miles in the mid-day sun with very little shade.

This sun exposure led to us having heat exhaustion.

We knew we had heat exhaustion as we were leaving Phantom Ranch on our climb up Bright Angel trail in the dark.

Our body temperatures were high, and we found it very hard to eat without gagging.

Did you train for this?
What did that look like?

We have been working with DJ Fox as our running and strength coach to get us prepared for World’s Toughest Mudder 2024.

Leading up to this adventure, he tailored our training to focus on the mileage and elevation we would be taking on.

I will say it was honestly one of my most productive but least favorite training blocks.

We spent time on the stair stepper with extra weight added, and also did incline runs on the treadmill upwards of 2 hours long. As well as consistent miles throughout the week and a big effort on the weekends.

We believe our training held up really well, our legs didn’t feel tired and were able to carry us up and out of the canyon even when we were experiencing heat sickness and exhaustion.

If you rated your top 5 races, trail runs, hikes, or fitness-related adventures, where does this stand?

I (Charles) believe this sits at a strong number two on my top 5 hardest fitness-related adventures, sitting just below finishing a 100-mile race.

Jessica believes this to be her hardest challenge she has taken on, which her background includes a Half Ironman and several visits to World’s Toughest Mudder.

Any advice for a 1st timer hitting this journey?

We cannot stress enough that you need to plan and have contingencies in place in case something changes leading up to or on the trail.

The trails in the park can be open one day and then closed for a week the next due to a pipeline break, rockfall, or general trail maintenance. For instance, the week of our planned adventure, there was a pipeline burst on the trans-canyon water pipeline, leaving Phantom Ranch and Havasupai Gardens as the only places in the canyon with running water. You have access to water sources on the North Kaibab, but you should be prepared to filter and possibly treat the water.

We highly recommend joining the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim to Rim (R2R2R) Facebook group. There are a lot of hopeful people in that group who share information daily about running in the canyon, and you will feel humbled when you see how many people just casually complete an R3 every other month or so.

If you did it again next week, what would you do differently?

If we could do anything differently, it would have been to complete it at a cooler time of the year. Late March to early April would have been ideal for cooler temperatures, but the Trans-Canyon Pipeline project had the Bright Angel trail closed from December 2023 to April 15th of this year.

We also would have stopped at Manzanita Campground before we started our climb up to the North Rim. We believed we had enough water at the time to make it up and back but didn’t think it would take nearly 4 hours to get to the top of the North Rim. We were lucky to have gotten water at the Back Country Office on the North Rim.

The final thing we would have done differently is packed different food.

We gambled on being able to get back to Phantom Ranch in time to get some fresh lemonade and real food, but with taking so long to get to the top of North Rim, we lost that window of time and the canteen was closed when we got to Phantom Ranch. Some more real food other than the PB&J and running nutrition probably would have improved our overall morale.

What’s next?
Where will we see you this year?
What are the big races you’re most excited about?

We have only a few races left on the calendar for this year. We are going to be competing in Toughest Philadelphia on May 18th. Then after that, Jessica has a Half Ironman at the end of July. Then we have a nice long stretch to Tough Mudder Infinity Pittsburgh in September.

Then we wrap up the season with World’s Toughest Mudder in November, where we are both aiming to hit the 75-Mile goal.

Follow along with Charles & Jessica as they continue pushing themselves and racing these big events.

Charles – @charlezard_go &
Jessica – @jessica_nichole522