A race from the Y in Provo to the U in Salt Lake City

Christian and Thomas Hales come from a divided family.

One set of their grandparents went to Brigham Young University, while the other set attended the University of Utah. Their parents met at BYU, but their dad went on to get a Ph.D. from Utah and teach there. Christian and Thomas are BYU Cougars themselves, but they have two siblings who went to Utah.

Naturally, the Holy War football rivalry is a big deal for the Hales family.

This year, Christian and Thomas are celebrating the game in a way that goes beyond watching it on the couch: a 55-mile ultramarathon from the Y on the mountain in Provo to the U on the mountain in Salt Lake City, on game day. They're calling it the Holy Ultra.

The race is self-crewed, the running route is suggested and "the only real rules are you must start at the Y, finish at the U, run the whole way and not cheat," according to the race website.

"I kind of liked the idea of this being a race for like, normal people who live in Utah County," Christian Hales said. Hence the self-crewed, laid-back setup.

When runners sign up, they choose if they are running for BYU or Utah. Finishers earn points "that get added to the final score of the football game to determine the real winner of the Holy War," per the website.

"We knew that people loved the Holy War and would want to compete," Thomas Hales said.

The brothers are counting on that passion from fans. They said the Holy Ultra is a way for people to actively participate in the rivalry.

"Usually you watch the game, and you're like, 'Okay, I hope my team wins.' It's fun to do things where you're like, 'Hey, I am enacting this rivalry. I get to participate somehow,'" Christian Hales said.

But they couldnt plan for everything. The Holy Ultra was set to start at 5 a.m. on Nov. 7, the day of the Holy War, until the Big 12 Conference announced the game would start at 10 a.m.

"The whole point of it is to celebrate the Holy War, and people don't want to miss that for anything," Thomas Hales said.

To accommodate the earlier game, the race will have two start times: midnight and 5 a.m. If you run a 10-minute per mile pace, you'll finish around kickoff time if you start at midnight, the website says.

The brothers hope the race will keep growing and become a tradition for BYU and Utah fans every year.

"And hopefully BYU and Utah are ranked so high that we get the 8 p.m. slot," Christian Hales added jokingly.

Find out more or sign up for the Holy Ultra here. Entry is $25, and the winners will receive prizes.