The Canyons ascends to international status

When Chaz Sheya started The Canyons Endurance Runs, he never envisioned it would become one of the premier ultrarunning events in the world. It started as a small 50K run in Foresthill with 125 runners. The next year, Sheya added a 100K race and a 25K race in 2017. The Canyons reached new heights in 2021 when UTMB partnered with Ironman to launch a new series of premier trail-running events called the UTMB World Series. "They announced that they were going to be developing the UTMB World Series with a series of events across the globe that culminate in the world finals in Chamonix, France," said Sheya. "We decided to see if we can be a part of it and UTMB reached out to us as well. They came out and loved what they saw, and here we are." Sheya said he always saw The Canyons growing but never thought it would draw the attention it has. "It's just been a progression. As the sport grew and things changed, I started to see things going in a certain direction," said Sheya. "As the popularity of the sport grew, so did the run. During the pandemic, people left road running and came to the trail." Sheya says he got the idea for The Canyons when helping a friend train for Western States. He noted the exclusivity of Western States and how some wait their entire lives to be drawn for the lottery and wondered if there was some way to allow ultrarunners to traverse the historic trail in a different race. "The only way you could run out there in a race was at Western States. We were in the canyons of Western States and I thought, 'Why don't we do a race out here to give people the opportunity to run on this historic trail?' " said Sheya. "From Michigan Bluff to Last Chance, anyone can run. It's not Western States, but they can run Western States Trail." The first Canyons had just a few sponsored runners that were professionals but considered among the world's elite. A decade later, The Canyons has more than 2,000 runners ready to go this weekend and some of the top-ranked ultrarunners in the world flocking to Auburn to compete on the historic trail. Canyons runners have gone on to have significant success at other major events. Five Canyons winners have won Western States in the same year, most recently with Adam Peterman in 2023. Last year, Rod Farvard won the 100K at The Canyons and placed second at Western States. Sheya says he looks forward to watching the race progress further and further as the years go on and hopes more of the world's elite ultrarunners come to Auburn to compete at the Endurance Capital of the World.