Listed as one of the Ultra-marathon bucket list runs, the rim to rim to rim run is epic. And so it is nice to be able to say that I have finished the “run” today - and it is clear why this is a bucket list activity. You start with one of the seven wonders of the world, you have big climbs, changing terrain, big distance (46 miles), lots of elevation gain / loss (around 11,000) and when you do this run on July 4th you get 110 degrees and a blazing sun in the valley. An epic day for sure, it took about 14.5 hours of almost constant movement to get it done. Start at Bright Angel trail head, head to the North rim and then come back – sounds easy….well sort of well, really not that easy. It was a “fair” hard – just a big day, one that required 100% focus on the event. Keep the nutrition and the hydration going, be careful on the big descents and stay always ready for the mule trains that added an interesting dimension to the trip. And so I am convinced that this is the kind of challenge that we would want to dream up on our THPL journey. It was an amazing day, for so many reasons, but mostly because of the time alone to explore yet again the edges of our psyche when things get hard. What is it that we do when they get hard(like they did today). It is really good to find out, how we will react and then accept it or change it. The goodness is that it all comes together when you take on a THPL challenge. I can say for sure it works!

Loving life, and happy to be off the Bright Angel trail!