Grand CanyonRim 2 Rim 2 Rim

Rim2Rim2Rim is an iconic and epic trail run. You will depart from the South Rim, descend to the Colorado river, pass through Phantom Ranch, ascend to the North Rim, and then return to the South Rim in the same day. The run is roughly 45 miles and has over 10,000 ft of total elevation gain, with long sustained climbs.

Unless you’re trying to set the FKT…it’s very important to remember this is NOT a race. There is no podium. No rankings. No belt buckle. No merch. No prize money. Enjoy your time. Run smart. Be safe! Avoid red lining: Focus on high, sustained torque…not top speed.

🗓️ When to Run

Weather conditions and temperature variations between the canyon rim and the inner canyon, especially in “the box,” play a critical role in planning your run. To avoid extreme conditions, it’s best to aim for early spring or late fall. Summer runs are discouraged due to potentially hazardous temperatures exceeding 100°F. Winter poses its own challenges with possible ice, snow, and limited water availability.

We have run both times the first weekend in November and had great luck with the weather. The first year, there was snow on both the North & South Rims, it was short lived and in many ways the cold on the climb up to the North Rim was welcomed and refreshing. The second year there was no snow on either rim and it was warmer, especially on the more exposed, midday return through the box. This also allowed our group to train through hot weather and carry some heat adaptation into the run (vs a spring run where you would train through the winter time).

When planning your run, consult historical weather both at the rim and inside the canyon to get a better idea of historical, average conditions for the time you’re planning on running. NPS Weather Resource & NPS Backcountry Guide are both good resources when selecting your window.

🧭 Route Options

The official FKT route is an out and back that starts and ends at the South Kaibab Trailhead. However, many, like us, will opt to start at either South Kaibab or Bright Angel Trailhead and end on the other trailhead you didn’t start from. This route forms a sort of Y when viewed from above. Both times we went, we departed from South Kaibab and returned to Bright Angel. Running this route allows you to experience both of the major trails leading down from the South Rim and has the added benefit of being slightly less elevation on your return trip.

🏃 Breaking Down The Run

R2R2R is not your typical trail run, as it starts with a huge descent and ends with a massive climb…it’s essentially an upside down trail run. The route has potable water available during certain times of the year, though it’s absolutely critical to check the NPS’ water availability guide before starting your adventure. On your return, you will (hopefully) have the opportunity to stop for a rest, lemonade, tea, snack, etc at Phantom Ranch’s Canteen’s “side window”. Enjoy the respite, as you’re about to head back up the final climb.

During the run, you will be self supported, carrying all of your own nutrition, first aid, clothing, lighting, poles, etc. Outside of a possible stop at Phantom Ranch’s Cantina for lemonade and other snacks, you’re going to carry all your own food. There are no aid tables out here, folks!

Planning Spreadsheet

I have created a spreadsheet to help plan your run. The spreadsheet has 3 tabs. Please don’t hesitate to contact me using the form at the bottom of the page to suggest improvements or let me know of any errors.

This has been a KEY resource in preparing for the run and I hope it will be a good resource as you plan your own adventures.

1. Route & Run Planning - This sheet gives an overview for the route starting at South Kaibab -> North Rim Trailhead -> Bright Angel Trailhead. Use this spreadsheet and tool to help plan your route, look at pacing, timing, milestones. This has some rudimentary formulas to estimate pace changes on grade based on the base pace you input. This should give you an idea of grade impact, but certainly is not a highly scientific GAP calculation.
2. Gear Consideration List - This is a list of gear that may help you be prepared and successful in this run. Use it as a starting point to build out a loadout that works well for you.
3. Nutrition & Calorie Helper - Use this tool to dial in your nutrition plan and calculate the energy density of your nutrition plan. I have included a number of food options for consideration, but of course you should input the food items you’re planning on taking with you.

🗺️ R2R2R Run Planning - R2R2R.Guide Public Version - Please read the instructions on the first tab.

Please provide me with feedback if I can make improvements!

Key Resources

Below is a curated list of links and resources to prepare and learn more.

• NPS Backcountry Alerts & Trail Status
• NPS Water Availability
• Official Grand Canyon Backcountry Brochure & Map
• NPS Weather Information
• Yavapai Lodge

Maps & Apps

• FKT Route
• GPX File: Start South Kaibab | End Bright Angel
• Avenza Grand Canyon Map
• CalTopo Map
• Komoot Route
• OnX Route
• Google Maps Route

Training

This is NOT a training guide. I am not a coach or qualified to build individualized training plans to prepare you for the run. Below you’ll find some resources and pointers that have helped me and folks I have run with complete the run.

To state the obvious, this is a strenuous day and you should be well trained and prepared for the run. You do not need to be FAST. Slow and steady can pay off big time.

Pointers

• Find an ultra marathon plan that takes elevation into consideration.
• Depending on your goals, you certainly don’t need to go fast to finish in a day.
• Most of the uphill sections are un-runnable for us mere mortal trail runners. Practice your power hike! Practice using poles.
• Don’t skimp on strength training. Your legs are going to take a beating going up and down. Incorporate both hills, rucking, and muscular endurance training on a regular basis.
• Downhill efforts put a lot of stress on your legs and I’ve seen the combination of impact and downhill pace cause injuries (far more than plodding uphill paces). Consider specific training for eccentric muscular endurance training for your legs (Romanian deadlifts, reverse lunges, jump rope, box jumps to name just a few exercises for inspiration).
• Use your long runs to test your gear, mindset, pace, and nutrition. You want to get as much dialed in before you head out on the trail.
• Consistency trumps everything else.

Training Links & Resources

There are countless training resources online from free plans, premium plans, podcasts, blog posts, and everything in between. Below are a few resources I’ve used.

Have a great resource to share? I would love to hear from you! Shoot me a note.

• McMillan 50mile-100k Training Plan w/ Vert
• Uphill Athlete Training & Coaching
• Uphill Athlete Podcast - Training for Trail Running Series

Nutrition

Similar to the section on training, this is not to be considered a comprehensive guide to ultra running nutrition. I am certainly not a nutritionist and I only know what’s worked for me and folks I have run with.

Unlike organized ultras, this one is self supported and there are no aid stations (with the notable and glorious exception of Phantom Ranch). So you’ll be planning and carrying everything you need with you.

Pointers

• Everyone’s nutrition and hydration needs are different. Test your plans and make sure they work for you!
• Aim to consume roughly 150-250 calories per hour you plan to be on the trail.
• Reference the Run Planning spreadsheet and visit the tab called Nutrition Planner to start putting a plan together and see some sample food items.
• Consider Nutrition Alerts on your running watch. Many watches have a setting that will remind you to eat on a fixed time interval. I set my nutrition alerts to remind me every 40 mins. If you’re like many, it’ll get increasingly harder to want to eat as the run goes on. Hold yourself accountable, get the calories in. Don’t bonk.
• For hydration, I have had success carrying a hydration bladder that only had water. I also carried 2x 500ml soft body bottles that I used for high calorie drink mix.
• Important: Keep your water topped up, especially when it looks like there will be long distances between refills. You must check the NPS water availability before your run so you know where you can expect to fill up. Water purification tablets are recommended as a backup.
• I carry electrolyte pills (specifically Hammer’s Endurolytes) that I took every hour on the trail.
• Consider starting the run with multiple hours of nutrition premixed in your body bottles. I was comfortably able to get 3 hours of Hammer Nutrition’s Perpetuem drink mix in each of my body bottles, giving me 6 hours of pre-mixed nutrition. I found this to be much easier to consume and carry on the go than lots of little gels. The first year I used Tailwind. It was solid, but since it’s just sugar and electrolytes it got cloying and harder for me to get down as the day wore on.
• Tip: Take a Blender Bottle (or similar) with you so you can thoroughly premix your multi-hour bottles ahead of time and then pour into the body bottles. Mixing this much drink mix in the soft body bottles is much harder.
• Some folks prefer and do really well on gels, but I prefer drink mix, solids (bars), and real food. However I did take 2 gels specifically because of the caffeine content ☕💨
• Be mindful that you need to carry all of this with you, so while pizza might sound pretty awesome, it might not pack & travel as well as other items.
• Be mindful of weight, nutrition density, and packability.
• Bring some cash to stop at the Phantom Ranch snack window on your way back to the South Rim! The lemonade is legendary, but they have a bunch of other snacks and drinks!
• This Uphill Athlete Podcast on Ultra Nutrition is very informative.

Travel

Travel & logistics are also a major consideration for many traveling to the Grand Canyon for this run. Our group traveled from the East coast. Of course, you’ll need to adjust based on your location, preferences, timing constraints, and situation.

This sample itinerary gives you plenty of time. You can certainly do it with less time on either side of your run.

A cautionary travel tale: our first time doing R2R2R, one of our group members was set to arrive the evening before the run, but with flight delays getting into PHX and a long drive, they didn’t get checked into their room until 11pm. Given we were waking up at 3am, this didn’t give much time to get in, familiarized, packed, and get some rest before the run. We got it done, but this was a clear “area of improvement” for our second run.

On The Trail

Make a plan with your group BEFORE you begin your run. Will you be sticking together no matter what? Will you stop at set points along the trail to regroup with everyone? Is everyone going to run at their own pace? There is no right way to do this, but you should have discussed this and agreed ahead of the run.

It’s crucial to minimize our impact on the natural environment of the Grand Canyon. Public trash cans are only located at the North and South Rim trailheads, with limited disposal available at Phantom Ranch for items purchased there. Please carry out all your trash, respect the pristine nature of the canyon, and ensure nothing you bring in is left behind. Remember, we’re guests in this epic landscape - let’s keep it clean and beautiful for everyone.

Most of the route does not have cell phone service. You’ll likely get some service at the North Rim Trailhead / parking lot (a “proof-of-life” selfie is a solid idea at this point). You’ll also start to get signal on and off as you climb up the South Rim.

I highly recommend everyone take a GPS tracking & messaging device. They can provide a great deal of peace of mind to folks back home who aren’t running as well as enabling you to communicate with other folks you are running with. We’ve had good success with Garmin inReach Minis and Zoleo’s. These require a monthly plan, but it can be purchased month-to-month. They are also available through many outdoor gear rental services. Some newer cell phones also offer SOS service for contacting emergency services when out of cell service range.

Pressing The SOS Button

A personal friend had a member of their group run too fast, hydrate too little, and eat too little. They ended up getting heat stroke about 2 miles away from Phantom Ranch on their return from the North Rim and essentially passing out on the side of the trail. Luckily, my friend arrived and had a Garmin inReach and decided to press his SOS button.

This initiated a sequence of events that likely saved his group member’s life:

• Park Ranger hiked to their location from Phantom Ranch to help evaluate the situation.
• The Park Ranger radioed for a helicopter rescue and directed the pilot in.
• Helicopter rescue crew arrived and medevaced the runner suffering from heat stroke to a hospital on the South Rim where he was able to get medical treatment.
• My friend’s emergency contacts on his Garmin account were notified that the SOS button was pressed automatically. Remember: he was not the person who needed medical attention, so this gave a scare to his family back home before he could follow up that he was safe.

I share this story for a few reasons. It’s illustrative about how vital these GPS communicators can be if an emergency occurs. Err on the side of caution and use the SOS button if you or someone in your group is having an emergency on the trail. It’s also a story that shows the risk of someone going too hard, too fast, being under prepared, and not hydrating and eating properly. This run is not the same as other trail runs where there may be fire roads, aid stations, and ways to “bail-out” if things go south.

Respect the run. Pace yourself. Hydrate. Eat. Take breaks in the shade. Remember, the R2R2R is a serious undertaking. Your safety and the safety of those around you should always be your top priority. Prepare well, stay alert, and don’t hesitate to call for help if you need it.

Wednesday - Travel & Arrival

• Fly into Phoenix (PHX) or Flagstaff (FLG).
• Rent a car. The drive from PHX is about 3hrs 45mins. The drive from FLG is only 1hr 30min.
• If you have multiple drivers and plan to start and end at different locations (South Kaibab & Bright Angel), having two cars available will give you more autonomy & flexibility.
• Build time into your drive so you can stop to shop for some groceries. Flagstaff has solid options, including a Whole Foods. Don’t worry if you forget something though, the Grand Canyon Market & Deli right across the parking lot from the Yavapai lobby is impressively well stocked with grocery items and a solid deli.
• Check into the Yavapai Lodge. It’s affordable, no frills, convenient to the general store, and has 3 places to eat (Yavapai Dining Hall, Yavapai Tavern, and Yavapai Cafe). Each room has a fridge, but no microwave. A microwave is available in the main lobby.
• Grab dinner somewhere in the park. There are plenty of options that won’t require reservations and are more casual. Arizona Steakhouse recommends reservations.

Thursday - Acclimate & Familiarize

• Think hydration and clean nutrition all day long.
• Review the latest updates to the NPS Water Availability report.
• Shake out run along the Rim Trail. Get up early. Catch the sunrise. Take it in. Get hyped. The Grand Canyon is a special place.
• Travel to the trailheads and parking areas you intend to use for dropoff and pickup.
• Review your packing list, nutrition plan, pack and re-pack your bag.
• Charge your devices (watch, headlamp, phone, inReach).
• Early dinner.
• If you have 2 vehicles, drop one car off in the parking area you intend to finish.
• IMPORTANT: Triple & quadruple check and secure the car keys. Ensure you have a plan for the key to be highly secured on your run. If you lose this key in the canyon, you’re not likely going back for it. Using a key clip tethered to your bag, inside a zippered pocket is a good start.
• Get to bed and get some rest. Dream happy trail dreams.

Friday - RIM2RIM2RIM

• This is the big day!
• Wake up early enough to eat, hydrate, and use the restroom (🤞).
• Final gear and nutrition check. Fill your bottles.
• Double check charge status on key equipment.
• Check and recheck the car key plan. Don’t risk losing this along the way.
• 4:00AM Arrive at the trailhead and depart on your adventure.
• Before selecting your start time, work through some scenarios for your expected pacing to try to get an idea of how long this may take you. Check sunrise and sunset times. If you would rather finish in the daylight, plan your departure time accordingly. You can use the planning spreadsheet to help work through various scenarios.
• Note: If you are departing from the South Kaibab trailhead, private vehicles are not allowed in the main parking area. Your best bet is a public parking area about 0.5 miles away from the official trailhead.
• Members of our groups have finished between 12 and 18 hours. Of course, everyone’s pace and objectives are different.
• Casual dinner back at the lodge. Check the closing times. If you think you may not finish and be back in time for dinner, make an alternative backup plan for a solid meal.
• If applicable, retrieve your vehicle from your starting point.

Saturday - Recovery & Travel Day

A couple thoughts for the day after your run.

You may opt to wake up, grab breakfast, and head to the airport to get home. We had half our group do this without issue!

You can also choose to take a little more time after your run. Some ideas might include:

• Revisit the trailhead where you finished to look back over what you accomplished.
• Book a helicopter tour to get flown through the Grand Canyon.
• Grab lunch with your group back in Flagstaff.
• Have a celebratory dinner with your group before leaving.