Runners accept ‘ultra’ challenge to save dogs and cats

Best Friends supporters have come up with some original and creative ways to raise funds for the animals through the years. And this fall, three long-distance runners are taking that creativity to the extreme by competing in the grueling Grand to Grand Ultra (G2G) footrace to help the animals of Best Friends.

In late September, Victoria Johnson, Max Hoffman, and Nikki Grafnetterova will join 60 hardy souls from around the world in a radical test of survival in harsh desert conditions. Carrying their own food and survival equipment for the week, they’ll run 171 miles and climb more than 18,000 feet in seven days. The organizers provide a ration of water along the course and a tent for some sleep at the end of the day.

Others have led the way

Like all nine of the previous races since 2012 (a two-year hiatus for the pandemic), the G2G course will start at a remote location on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. And on the third day it will pass through Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. Victoria, Max, and Nikki will be following in the footsteps of others who previously have run for Best Friends, including co-founder and former CEO Gregory Castle, who completed the G2G in 2014 at age 72. However, this will be the first time that three runners representing Best Friends will be in the same race.

“Running the G2G was one of the most energizing, inspiring, and educational experiences of my life,” says Gregory, who at the time was the oldest competitor in the race. “In addition to the extraordinarily beautiful and unique landscape and the purely physical demands of completing the run, it taught me so much about what I only half knew about the importance of mental fortitude in fulling those demands.”

Inspired to help animal shelter staff

Max Hoffman, a former Best Friends employee originally from Ohio, wants to raise money in part to help support Best Friends’ work with shelters around the country. When he worked at a high-volume spay/neuter clinic years ago, it was the first time he noticed the extreme pressure shelter workers feel due to two common issues: not enough staff and not enough funding. “If we can reduce the pressure on shelter workers everywhere, it will be a good thing and it will help the animals,” he says.

As a teenager, Max remembers watching DogTown, the Nat Geo television series about Best Friends’ work that ran from 2008 to 2010. In high school, he volunteered on weekends at a local private shelter, walking dogs and cleaning kennels. Then in 2010, he took a gap year in high school to come out to Best Friends and volunteer for six weeks. He later took a full-time internship with Best Friends, which led to full-time employment.

Max is fresh off his first ultra event, the 50-kilometer (31-mile) Bears Ears Ultra in Monticello, Utah. “I loved it,” he says. “Seriously, I had so much fun. There was a lot of uphill (terrain), and that was when I was most tired. But mentally I felt great the whole time.”

His normal training routine includes frequent runs with his dog, JJ, but recent hot weather has limited JJ’s availability. “If it was cooler, he’d be out there,” says Max. “There’s nothing more rewarding for him than to run free. Sometimes if we’re out walking, I’ll pause to give him a treat before taking him off-leash. But he can’t wait. He’ll spit out the treat for a chance to run.”

Donors inspire her

Originally from the Czech Republic, Nikki Grafnetterova attended college in Pennsylvania and eventually moved to Texas, where she’s an athletic academic coordinator at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. She’s the most experienced runner of the group. Since 2010, she’s competed in 48 ultras in Texas, Utah, Colorado, and Oregon.

In June 2021, she was three miles into a planned 20-mile training run when she spotted a dog wandering along the road who seemed clearly in need of help. “She was skin and bones,” Nikki recalls.

Nikki asked around to find out where the dog might live, but no one seemed to know. So she borrowed a leash and walked her home. In the following days, she posted pictures online and called around to find out whether the dog was lost. Eventually, she learned the dog had been abandoned.

That dog — now called Ellie — is still with Nikki and her other dog, Baloo, whom she adopted from a shelter in Pennsylvania. Her concern for animals runs deep, and it’s one of the two key reasons she’s running the G2G. The other is Best Friends.

A year ago following a conference in Las Vegas, Nikki took a few days to visit Utah’s national parks and in the process learned about Best Friends. She headed to the Sanctuary, took a tour, and hosted a dog on a sleepover. “I just fell in love (with the Sanctuary),” she says.

When Nikki passes through the Sanctuary on day three of the race (the longest stage at approximately 53 miles), the memories from her first visit will likely come flooding back. And chances are she will savor every moment.

“I’m a very slow (ultra runner), and I’m usually in the back of the pack,” she says with a laugh. “For me, it’s more about meeting the challenge of finishing the race. But (in the G2G), I’ll be even more inspired going through the Sanctuary. Plus, I don’t want to disappoint the people who are supporting me by giving money (to help the animals).”

An Angel on her shoulder

Note from Victoria Johnson: Thanks to everyone who has supported me during my preparation to run the Grand to Grand Ultra adventure for the animals!  

Secondly, we have an uh-oh. Right now, I look a little bit like this guy, or at least we seem to be wearing the same leg jewelry!  My ankle is broken. I know. It’s a heartbreak!  All summer I've been summiting mountains and running cross-country over treacherous terrain with a backpack, preparing myself for the grueling 171- mile race.

Then one Saturday in early August, I decided to take a break from training. And that’s literally what happened. Casually, walking down a hill in flimsy sneakers, I rolled my ankle on a rock and ended up in urgent care. Who knew you could fracture and sprain your ankle?

I've been in a boot for four weeks now. I thought I might be able to get the boot off in time to walk the race but I’m still not healed and will still be in the boot by the time everyone makes their way to the start line on September 24.

I am forlorn. Right now, my main comfort are my dogs — Bodhi, who is almost 14 and Angel, who is almost 17 (and has been fighting her own battle with lymphoma all summer). They are my greatest sources of comfort. Another silver lining is with all this rest time, I’ve now got the cleanest house I’ve ever had in my entire life!

But if that little duck in the photo can get through it, so can I. Little Foot, as he’s affectionately known, is healing up at Best Friends’ state and federally licensed rehab center, Wild Friends. Someone found him with a band caught tightly around his leg, cutting off his circulation and damaging his foot. Ouch! But he’s swimming and happy again and putting his best foot forward at Wild Friends. And I know I can do it, too. But, sadly, not in time for the Grand to Grand.

Thanks to the support of Best Friends donors, I was able to surpass my goal of raising $17,100 ($100 a mile) before I had to bow out of this year’s race — great news for Little Foot and all his friends at the Sanctuary!

I will carry this generosity over to 2024 and hope to be at the starting line, strong, healthy and injury-free.

With much love,  
Victoria

For Victoria Johnson, who turned 50 last year and is a Best Friends annual giving officer, running for the animals is about kicking off the second stage of her life.

“I refuse to slow down,” she says. “And this year, to celebrate my 13th year working for Best Friends, I wanted to do something to give back to the organization that has given me so much over the years.”

During those long, lonely hours of the race — part of which must be run in the dark — Victoria will surely be thinking about Angel, her little fluffy, blond dog who’s nearly 17 years old.

“She’s my heart dog, and I’ve had her since I rescued her as a puppy,” she says. “She was diagnosed with lymphoma at the beginning of March.”

Victoria recently took Angel on a trailer camping trip to Oregon, which included stops at lakes, rivers, and campsites along the way. “We’ve been concentrating on giving her the best summer possible,” she says.

Born and raised in London, Victoria loved to run during her childhood, relishing the feeling of accomplishment that it gave her. “But sadly, grown-up life swept me away, and it wasn’t until I emigrated (to the U.S.) in 2006 that I found my running legs again,” she says.

From 2008 to 2018, Victoria ran 23 marathons (including Boston twice) and numerous shorter races. A bone spur injury in 2019, followed by the pandemic, reduced her running activities, but this year she’s making her comeback.

With all her running experience, Victoria knows a lot about individual physical challenges, but she’s looking forward to something different in the G2G. “Part of the reason I signed up for the race was the opportunity raise funds for Best Friends, but it was also to turn my overall focus to something bigger than myself.”

G2G, Best Friends help each other

It was in 2010 when Colin Geddes and his wife, ultra runner Tess Geddes, first met with Best Friends about their grand idea for a self-supported race through the desert. They faced huge challenges, and Gregory was one of the first two to get on board by agreeing to have the race pass through the Sanctuary.

That was just the start of it. There were state and federal permits to secure, logistics to plan, a course to develop, and sponsors to secure — a huge undertaking. But Colin and Tess were up for it, and today the G2G has taken its place as a signature event on the world ultra calendar.

[Dog adopters stream live, fun-filled fundraiser]

Likewise, Best Friends is laser-focused on its own challenge: taking the nation’s animal shelters to no-kill by 2025.

“I knew from the start of Best Friends … that achieving a no-kill society for animals was a long-distance undertaking,” Gregory said back in 2014. “The challenge that we face to Save Them All is just like a marathon. It takes the same kind of meticulous planning and hard work to pull it off.”  

It's in that same spirit that Victoria, Max, and Nikki prepare for one of the toughest races of their lives. And though they’re competing separately, they have a collective goal: saving animals’ lives with every step.