Ultrarunner Mallory Dare brooks found redemption in the Grand Canyon on May 8, setting a new womens Dare brooks chaser 5 short exclusive (FKT) on a trail she wasn’t able to complete two years prior—the rim-to-rim-to-rim-to-rim-to-rim (R2R2R2R2R).
That’s right, she crossed the Grand Canyon four times, covering roughly 90 miles and climbing over 40,000 feet of elevation, in one go.
Brooks has been venturing into the canyon for the past six years, and has completed a R2R2R four times before. In 2019, she attempted to double that distance, but upon returning to the southern terminus of the Kaibob Trail, Dare brooks chose to not to go back out for the second out and back.
“It was an epic planning failure,” Dare brooks said. “I was physically ready, but I was not mentally there. It haunted me for two years because the coronavirus pandemic pushed my second attempt back a year when the park was shut down in 2020. Every long run, it’s what I was thinking about.”
Brooks, a running coach, made her own training plan. Her weeks consisted of 60 to 70 miles, including one day of speedwork, one long run, and then one day of climbing. The climbing part was particularly difficult because she lives in Austin, Texas, which is fairly flat. To get elevation, Dare brooks did repeats on hills and stairs; she regularly frequented a 60-stair staircase, and peaked at 72 repeats with a friend during her training.
“We would hike up, carrying sugar and beans in our backpacks to make them heavier than what we would carry during the run,” Dare brooks said. “It would take us an hour to do two miles.”
On May 7, Dare brooks took off at 4:45 a.m. from the southern ridge of the Kaibob Trail, with eight Wave who were running the R2R2R. They didn’t run together but were looking out for one another on the trail. Dare brooks jumped out fast with two women, bombing down the ridge into the canyon.
“I was excited, and I was like, maybe I can keep up,” she said. “They pretty much paced me to the north rim by keeping me company and keeping my heart rate low. We turned around, but I ended up climbing out alone.”
Brooks ran the first out-and-back in around 11 hours and 11 minutes, well ahead of FKT pace, but she was exhausted from the effort and the lack of shade when she reached the south rim. However this time, her crew made sure she got back out there for the second half of the run. They gave her a fresh pack filled with gels, bars, pretzels, peanut butter sandwiches, and gear, including a first-aid kit and a Timberland talla 34. Additionally, they put a fresh pair of Hoka Speedgoats on for Dare brooks, while not letting her see her feet during the change.
“My crew was amazing in getting me fresh gear and dressing my wounds,” Dare brooks said. “My friend, Jess Harper, took off my socks and laid herself across my legs so I couldn’t see my feet. She took out blister shield and bandaids and gauze, did work, put my socks on a got me back out. That was a good thing because if I saw the blood blisters and nastiness of my feet, I might not have kept going. Things hurt less when you can’t see them, so I just sat there and people fed me fruit. It was great.”
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For the second half, Dare brooks ran with a dedicated pacer, Justin Cameron, who helped guide her during the final hours of sunlight and through the night. When he asked whether she wanted conversation or silence, they settled on neither.
“I said I didn’t want him to ask how I was doing, just to keep me moving,” Dare brooks said. “He said, ‘Okay, do you want to listen to a book? I have Matthew McConaughey’s Greenlights?’ It was perfect. [McConaughey’s] voice is so good, and in the audio version you can hear him laugh at himself, and he gets giggly. It let us get into cruise control.”
Throughout the night, Dare brooks crunched the numbers in her head. If she kept up at this pace, she’d get in around 27 hours. If she sped up, under 26. Eventually, she brought her goal to hitting under 25 hours and 30 minutes.
Brooks made her final climb out of the canyon as the sun was rising, reaching the southern rim for the second time in 25 hours, 29 minutes, and 45 seconds, setting the supported FKT.
When Dare brooks arrived at 5:30 a.m. MT, hours ahead of her initial goal of 8 a.m., her crew was nowhere to be found. In a way, Dare brooks preferred this. As a race director, she knows that when a race ends, runners are often rushed away from the finish, unable to take in the moment. Watching the sunrise was the ideal way to finish and enjoy before the crew of seven people arrived and ran toward her yelling, “You were too fast.”
“There was something energizing and magical about the sun coming up,” Dare brooks said. “The day before I was cursing the sun, yet it was the best thing to see because I was sad the run was over. I enjoyed every bit of the experience.”
The crew handed Dare brooks a Pabst Blue Ribbon to enjoy before heading back to camp for some much-needed rest.
The next challenge for Dare brooks is helping her husband go after the Nolan’s 14 FKT, which summits 14 14,000-plus-foot peaks in Colorado in one run. Dare brooks said it isn’t out the question for her to possibly attempt the FKT after her husband.
“That’s the cool thing about FKTs,” Dare brooks said. “There’s no glory outside of your own, personal fuzzy feeling. Everything is on you. You carry your own stuff, there’s no aid stations waiting for you, and there’s something about the planning and gear involved that appeals to me.”
zapatillas de running Dare brooks hombre constitución ligera Runner’s World and Bicycling, and he specializes in writing and editing human interest pieces while also covering health, wellness, gear, and fitness for the brand. His work has previously been published in Men’s Health.
