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Jamestown Native Completes Grand Canyon Distance Run

Jamestown native Michelle Carlson, first row middle, joined 11 others from Rochester to complete the Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim trail course at Grand Canyon National Park earlier this month. Submitted photo

For some, the idea of getting out and distance running on an average road lacks excitement. That was never the case for 2005 Southwestern Central School graduate Michelle Carlson, whose love of running has taken her all the way to the courses of some of the world’s greatest races, including the Boston Marathon.

But while Carlson has always had a passion for lacing up her shoes and hitting the road, the opportunity that arrived in January has opened up a whole new world.

Months prior to the new year she had noticed an application lingering on the Facebook page of the Rochester Running Company–a form that was open to distance runners who were looking to expand their craft on the famous Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim trail course at Grand Canyon National Park.

“The owner of the Rochester Running Company wanted to organize the group and I came across it on Facebook,” said Carlson “And as soon as I saw it online I said, ‘Yes, this is something that I want to do.'”

That initial impulse would carry Carlson, along with a group of 11 other precocious athletes from the Rochester area, across an 18-hour journey that covered 46 miles of trails and more than 20,000 feet of elevation change on March 5.

Suffice it to say, the experience was not a bad first visit to the Grand Canyon.

“I didn’t know anyone in the group before I signed up for this. When we found out, the 12 of us that were going to go … connected and got to know each other before the trip,” said Carlson. “With everything we went through, it was so hard that when we came back we were all like family.”

To put the Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim course in perspective, shortly before hitting the 26-mile mark on their journey, Carlson and her group hit the base of a 7,000-foot ascent near the canyon’s North Ridge. “And then you get up there and you realize you are only half way,” said Carlson. “Getting to that waypoint I was doing pretty good. The elevation there is just so different so myself and some other people were dealing with some nausea.”

Forgetting for a moment about the immense scale of the course that the group was touring, there is also the small matter of trying to run on trails that are often feet away from sheer drops.

“We started out at 4 in the morning with our headlamps on, and it was about 15 degrees out so the trail was kind of icy,” recalled Carlson. “We had to almost walk for a while because if you fall off the edge you probably aren’t going to live.”

Some may dismiss that sort of a jaunt as just a bit too harrowing, but it seems as though Carlson’s first ultra-long distance experience on the steep slopes in Arizona has stricken her with a bad case of the trail-running bug.

The combination of people involved, the scenery, the travel, the terrain itself and the sheer difficulty is what has so many people taking to long-distance trail running.

“It was kind of a life-changing experience for me because I realized how far I can push myself,” added Carlson. “I think partially, I just love hiking and love running, so it’s kind of a combination of both. It is a little bit more technical and you have to pay attention to rocks and roots and all the things around. They are both great (styles of running) in their own ways. I’ve just embraced the trail community and met so many great people.”

While the Grand Canyon experience offered Carlson a chance to cut her teeth on some extreme terrain and remains her longest trek to date, the Jamestown native is also looking forward to returning to competition–whatever form that may take.

Up next on the schedule will be the Many on the Genny 40-mile Trail Ultra on June 23, where Carlson will return to racing on the terrain that helped prepare her to take on desert hills in the months leading up to her canyon trip.

Before that event, Carlson will pursue a shorter trail race in May, as she ramps up in preparation for her first competitive ultra-marathon.

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