North America has one multi-day stage ultra race - with one goal for all athletes; survive! It is the only stage race to start from one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, the awe-inspiring north rim of the Grand Canyon, and finish on the summit of the Grand Staircase, one of the world’s most iconic geological formations.

The Grand to Grand Ultra is a six-stage, seven day foot race that sees athletes race accross every terrain possible and climb at heights of 10,000-feet. Over 175 miles, the athletes must carry all their provisions on their back, that includes all food for the week and sleeping provisions.

Popular local sportsmen Matthew Evans and Yori Lewis recently undertook and both successfully completed what was an incredible journey.

Matthew Evans says: “It was incredible. We started with back to back 30 mile plus days and then straight into the 55-mile run. The 55 was almost 2,000 metres of climbing and 75 per cent soft sand across the entire course. It sapped the life out of you - If the sand and climbing didn’t get you, the altitude would. Rattle snakes, coyotes and numerous wildlife in waiting lined the course too! After that, it was back-to-back marathons and then a eight-mile climb straight to the summit!

“It’s a weird feeling when you race under these conditions. Part of you wants to keep pushing on, but you know this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and you need to absorb the total beauty and incredible landscape we were witnessing.”

Yori Lewis added: “The landscape was vast, so vast; a word we just kept using and every day so different. We started with about 120 athletes from 26 countries, so camp was very personal. So it hurt even more every time we lost an athlete to the course.

“Every person had their own reason for being there, but our chosen charity was CALM (campaign for living miserably), raising money to help awareness of male depression and ultimately suicide. The more we spoke about it in camp the more evident it became that the scale of the problem lay deep in generations of males.

“We have raised almost £2,000, but will continue to raise funds through The November Challenge in November. So if you would like to try to run a mile a day with your children, family or friends and help us raise funds for CALM, please feel free to sign up at novemberchallenge.com”

The boys would like to thank everyone who donated at the website www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/grandcanyon2017. Also to those who sent in emails that were printed off and delivered to them at night. No electronic devices were allowed on the course so Matt and Yori were completely dark for the entire week.

The boys would like to extend a special thank you to their families for a all the support during the training and the anguish of the race itself!

Matthew says: “The medals are for our wives - who made everything so easy for us to simply race.”