KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Matt Ryerson, the CEO of the United Way of Greater Knoxville, returned to town this week after successfully running the Grand Canyon twice in one day. It's the latest endurance test the 53-year-old father of four has tried since he began running to improve his health.
"If you had told me at 25 that I'd be doing this, I'd have laughed at you," Ryerson said.
He and seven friends are part of a running group in Knoxville. Running the Grand Canyon was meant to celebrate one of the member's 50th birthday.
"Another Matt, a friend of mine, he turned 50 this year and said, 'We gotta go big this year!' And we said, 'What's bigger than the Grand Canyon?'" Ryerson said.
He said they started on the south rim around 3 a.m. on Oct. 10. They ran several miles down a trail into the canyon, then along trails throughout the morning and afternoon until they ran up and out at the north rim 24 miles away. Dehydration and injuries forced five of the group to stop there, but Ryerson and two others kept going.
Several hours and about 20 miles later, they were hiking the final five miles up a trail to the south rim in the dark. Ryerson spotted a rattlesnake on the trail slithering towards them with his headlamp. Exhausted, it was a moment they could've thrown their hands up and surrendered, but being close to achieving their goal pushed them forward, he said.
"I looked up in the sky and I'm, I'm still in this canyon, and I see this beautiful set of stars that I've never seen as bright as I saw in that moment, and I said, 'I am blessed to be here, right now, in this difficult situation," he said.
They remained calm, saw that the snake was moving slowly in the cool night, and got around it by hopping onto an elevated ledge next to them, he said.
Ryerson said this wasn't his first endurance race, but he hasn't been a lifelong runner. An unexpected moment of reflection presented itself almost 20 years ago when his wife, then pregnant with their third child, needed help with their young daughter.
"She says to our daughter, 'Go sit on daddy's lap,' and our daughter says, 'Why?' And she says, 'Well mommy's pregnant and it's a little uncomfortable.' So, she comes over and tries to sit on my lap. She's trying to get situated, pats my belly and says, 'Is daddy pregnant too?'" he said.
He said he weighed about 300 pounds at the time. He signed up for a "Biggest Loser" boot camp at his YMCA. He lost almost 50 pounds because of that and hasn't looked back.
His first endurance challenge was a run from Knoxville to Boston with a group of friends to honor those killed in the Boston Marathon Bombing. He's run at least one mile every day since the holiday season of 2014 and plans to celebrate that 10-year anniversary this year with a run.
Ryerson said he and his friends choose at least one marathon-style run per year. Those races have taken them across the country and have ranged from a 30-mile run in the hills outside of Chattanooga to a 500-mile bike ride across Iowa.
The tangible successes fuel his training, but the biggest reward is the time he gets to spend with his friends, he said.
He acknowledged that his goals aren't for everyone.
"A lot of your viewers are going to say, 'That's crazy! I'd never want to do that.' And they're probably wise," he said.
That said, Ryerson believes whatever your goals are, commit to them fully. The journey will be worth it.
His next goal: A 100-mile-long endurance race in southern Illinois in early November.