I completed the rim to rim to rim this past Saturday, 4/24. Went with a group of 6 from the Chicago area.
I haven't had a chance yet to write up a real race report, but I did at least upload the video I shot. I'd like to take all our videos and pics and make a cool, edited clip, but not sure when I'll find the time.
Anyway, if you're interested, here's a link to the video:
http://vimeo.com/11246341
As we get more pics uploaded, and run reports written, etc., we should be posting them to our site, here:
http://www.r2r2r4h.org/
One of the things I'm really happy about is that we took this opportunity to raise money for charity. So far we've raised about $8500 for Operation Rainbow who does orthopedic surgery in parts of the world in need, most recently focused on the ongoing needs in Haiti.
This is a "check one off the bucket list" kind of run, for sure. Amazing experience. Very, very tough, but so worth the effort. Here it is Thursday and I'm still too sore to do a squat with nothing but my own body weight! This is more sore than I was after doing the Kettle Moraine 100 miler!
We ended up splitting into two groups. I finished with the front group in 16 hours, the second group finished in 17 hours. This is one of those things that takes longer than you expect for a number of reasons. First, it's just plain tough. Even the downhills force you to take it easy much of the time. There are some good, fast runable sections, but much of the time the terrain is really regulating your speed. That last uphill, 9 miles all uphill, 4500', I think we were going about 2 mph toward the end. Our buddy who was bonking was hardly moving at all, but he pulled through :-
)
The nature of this being totally self supported slows things down. At the few water stops along the way, you find yourself taking a fair amount of time to do everything...fill hydration packs, mix energy drink, eat, take pictures, yuck it up with your buddies, wait for anyone who has fallen behind, etc.
And, the beauty of the place requires you to stop from time to time to just soak it all in, take some pictures/video, and just enjoy the wonder of the moment. You don't really feel like rushing things.
If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend putting this on your "must do" list. It belongs there!