I ran the West Rim Trail south to north with my 6 year old German shepherd/husky mix dog, Sam, on May 25, 2021. We each carried our own supplies - I had a 7L Nathan VaporHowe running vest with 2L water, 4 Clif bars and two 8 oz flasks of Tailwind; Sam carried an Outward Hound saddlebag pack with 2L water and 4 cups of dog food. We probably overloaded on water and did not need to stop for refills at mile 15. There was reasonable cloud coverage for the first 4 hrs of the run which kept temperatures between 55-65F, but near the end of the run we got pretty hot at 75F under the sun. Trail was dry with only 5-6 muddy spots, decent shade for most of the run, and rain/dew-covered plants in the first 2 hours that kept our legs cool. We kept a steady pace, hiking some of the steeper hills and rocky terrain but running at least 85% of the trail. Most of our pit stops involved snacks, creek dunking (the dog) and some much-needed stretching (me). I was originally hoping to finish in 6h15m, but our halfway split time had me adjusting expectations to just make it under 6h30m.
In general we both felt stellar until about miles 26-27, when I hit the wall suddenly and stopped to hike for half a mile or so after a long climb at mile 25. I'd run the northernmost 13 miles with some friends a few weeks ago, so it was nice to see familiar terrain even though I was hurting by the time we hit Barbour Rock. Somehow I'd gotten it into my head that the northern trail terminus was less than a mile from there, so it was a rough mental game getting the last few miles under my belt. Caught a second wind when I had a third Clif bar and was able to run the rest of the way without any nasty spills. Overall a very runnable, dog-friendly trail with beautiful views and lovely hikers along the way! Would love to do it again in the fall with autumn colors and see if we can beat our time.