The Hales brothers decided to incorporate one of their passions — ultra-marathon running — to highlight the Red vs. Blue week.

How does a run from the “Y” on Y Mountain to the “U” on Mount Van Cott sound?

It’s a 55-mile run on the day of the big game which Christian (33) and Thomas (22) have dubbed the “Holy Ultra.”

Get it? For the Holy War?

Christian Hales courtesy photo

Christian Hales said he and his brother both attended BYU but grew up in Salt Lake City, where their father works for the University of Utah and several other relatives attended the U.

“We kind of have a thing with both schools,” Christian Hales said.

Christian Hales said he ran cross country in high school and comes from a running family. About a year ago, the Hales brothers turned their running passion toward ultra-marathon running.

“There’s a big running scene in Utah and we thought it would be cool to have a run from Provo to Salt Lake for the rivalry,” Christian Hales said.

Ghe first order of business was to figure how a route from the Y to the U. The two brothers did a Google Maps search and discovered a safe route.

Christian Hales courtesy photo

“We didn’t want to go through the mountains or the Bonneville shoreline trail,” Christian Hales said. “We wanted runners to be able to get food or use the bathroom. We wanted them to be able to stop at a park or meet family along the way.”

The route starts at Y Mountain and follows the Provo River Trail before joining up to the Murdock Trail. Once the route reaches the Point of the Mountain, it turns into a frontage road near Geneva Rock then proceeds into Draper. From there it joins 13th East with sidewalk all the way to Sugarhouse, then all the way to the U.

In May, the Hales brothers did a test run of the route.

“With breaks and everything it took about 14 hours from start to finish,” Christian Hales said. “We started about 4 a.m. from the Y and it was almost 6 p.m. when we finished.”

The 10 a.m. start time for the football game presents a challenge for any of the runners who wanted to attend.

“That was a challenging thing because we didn’t know the kickoff time,” Hales said. “What we ended up doing was starting the race in two heats. If people are really interested in going to the game they’ll start at midnight. With a 10-minute mile pace they should finish by the time the game starts. Most people are starting the race at 5 a.m. Maybe they can listen to the game while they run.”

As of Thursday there were 22 runners signed up for the race: 19 BYU fans and three Utah fans.

“Utah should be ashamed,” Hales joked.

He said there were several runners in their 40s but mostly the group is in their 20s.

There are definitely a lot of young, spry athletic people drawn to this.”

As for the prize, well, it’s the first race so that part is a work in progress.

“We wanted to make it a competition,” Hales said. “We’re still trying to figure out the finer details. Next year maybe we can do the run from the U to the Y, the opposite direction. We wanted to do a point system to encourage people to sign up from each school. Our ‘pie-in-the-sky goal’ is one day this run becomes popular enough that whoever wins gets sideline tickets to the game or something fun. We’ll see in future how figure out handle that.”

However the game turns out, the Hales brothers and those who participate in the “Holy Ulta” have discovered a healthy way to celebrate one of the country’s best rivalries.

“Our goal is to make it a fun thing that both schools can do,” Christian Hales said. “We love having both BYU and Utah in our families.”