The Grand to Grand Ultra wrapped up their 2022 event with an awards dinner at the Kanab Center on Saturday, September 24. More than one hundred runners, families, and friends gathered to celebrate the end of the seven-day event, a self-supported foot race covering 170 miles and a premier running event unlike any other.
Tess and Colin Geddes are co-founders of the event, as well as the operations and business directors. Held annually since 2012, the G2G experienced a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic but came roaring back in 2022. I caught up with Tess and Colin while they were checking the table settings before the banquet. I asked if he was pleased to be up and running again this year, Colin replied, “We certainly are!”
During his opening remarks, Mr. Geddes said that the event’s DNF (did not finish) rate for 2022 was close to double what it had been for previous years, adding that this trend has been noted by other staged running events “emerging from COVID.” He also mentioned that about 50 percent fewer runners participated this year than in years past.
The evening’s agenda included music, a buffet dinner, an enthusiastically received line dancing demonstration, the awards ceremony, and more dancing. Awards for the event were met with cheers from the attendees, with Robert Merile receiving the top overall rank with a time of 30:24:09. Joseph Taylor and Matthew Aymard achieved overall ranks two and three with times of 35:43:48 and 37:20:23, respectively.
Age group first ranks included Erica Terblanche in the 50-59 group with a time of 48:13:23, and Christian Toulemont in the 60-69 group with a time of 50:51:33.
The event’s dancing and celebration continued long into the evening, a fitting capstone for the extraordinary achievements of the participants.
2022 was the first year the G2G awards dinner was hosted by the Kanab Center, and coordinator, Torrey Cluett and assistant, Julie Lee were on hand to personally oversee the experience. The event was a tremendous showcase for the facility, featuring state of the art lighting, audio and visuals, as well as a banquet seating and presentation worthy of the best big city conference centers. Kanab Center makes Kanab City look great!
