Running in Canyon de Chelly

Baby Rocks near Kayenta in the Navajo Nation

Stunning red sandstone cliffs tower above a narrow canyon filled with trees and brush.

Read this account of a new ultra marathon started by Shaun Martin in this canyon in 2013.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/08/sports/navajo-ultramarathon-canyon-de-chelly.html

150 runners experience local Navajo culture and history as they run along a trail on the canyon bottom, ascending to the top at the half-way point.

They pass iconic rock formations such as the stand-alone spire called Spider Woman.

Anyone can take a walk in this canyon if you hire a Navajo guide (the area is private property and the ancient homeland of many Navajos).

Baby Rocks, not far from Chinle and Canyon de Chelly

Closest town is Chinle, Arizona.  The Navajo Nation fills the northeast quadrant of Arizona.

Thank you to Michael Powell for his poetic evocation of the experience of watching the 34-mile race.  

"By midmorning the sandstone canyon walls turned a translucent pink and red, as if lit from within. The sky was razor blue...."