Most runners dread longer distances than what they are used to. Karel Sabbe, with his ironclad body and willpower of steel, is the exception to many rules. Again. At the end of August, he will participate for the first time in the UTMB, the most famous trail race in the world. A 100 miler around Mont-Blanc and thus a lot shorter than his last venture of some 3,000 kilometers through New Zealand. How is our country’s best-known trail runner preparing for it? And what does he himself expect from it?
Altitude camp
It is Friday, August 1, when we manage to snare Karel Sabbe for a phone interview. As he sets course for Sankt Moritz with a car loaded with running shoes, he takes ample time to answer our questions.
So, Sankt Moritz, a Swiss ski village known in the athletics world as one of the drop-off points for altitude training. Is the altitude and accompanying physiological changes in the body also the reason for Sabbe’s popular move? “Among other things, yes,” he reveals. “Spending two weeks at altitude certainly doesn’t hurt. In addition, this is a perfect base for trails, my partner ON is based here and at the Intersoc hotel I can easily couple a little family vacation with it.”
Because we would almost forget, but in addition to being a trail runner, Sabbe is still a dad and a dentist. Despite his preparation for the UTMB de Mont Blanc, he continued to fulfill the latter two roles.
Soaking up atmosphere
The UTMB is one of the most famous trail runs in the world. Yet Sabbe has never before been at the start of this mythical race. He was previously tempted by FKT (Fastest Known Times) in which he often spent weeks on the road. So why now the choice of ‘oh-so’ 174 kilometers?
“The idea of running this race someday was always in the back of my mind, but it wasn’t until last year that it became more concrete. I attended the last edition with ON and noticed how unique the whole event is. Totally different from what I’m used to. I would like to experience the vibe of the mass start and the atmosphere of the thousands of people along the course. This year is also convenient. With my last FKT in New Zealand I laid a solid foundation with more than 100 ‘training hours’ in a week, for another FKT it is still too early anyway and I am still at a competitive age,” said the 35-year-old athlete.
“I would like to experience the vibe of the mass start and the atmosphere of thousands of supporters.”
Running machine
Although Sabbe cites the latter argument, his ambitions do not appear to be sky-high. “I have no illusions. I’m not going to be able to compete with the top competitors at the start,” he immediately echoed. “There are Americans who move to the Alps specifically for this race. When elite athletes are resting, I’m working in dentistry. The level is so high and everyone trains according to good and logical principles. Plus, I don’t even start in the elite field.”
Nor does his sobriety get in the way of his drive to go all out. “I have no experience running myself completely empty in 24 hours, but I do have a body that can handle a lot. In the meantime, my body is a running machine and used to walking on tired legs. Therefore, I hope to weaken less in the second part than the others. Where it takes me we’ll see, but I’m definitely going to give it my all.”
Course reconnaissance
That Sabbe takes it seriously is evident in his preparation. He scouted the course a few weeks ago so he knows what he’s in for. “That was very important for me, yes. I want to know where it is really runable and where I have to take into account the technicality. That wasn’t too bad. I only found 10% to be really technical. The part I will finish at night I have also done in the dark for simulation. Afterwards I trained the slopes at home on the treadmill. The long descents I hope to train during my altitutde camp.”
“I found only 10 percent really technical.”
So the course did not scare him as much. On training, the focus was therefore mainly on speed incentives and nutrition. The latter proved to be the biggest challenger. “In those ten years of ultrarunning, I never did anything where I could never eat normal food. During the Barkley Marathons, I was constantly moving, but often while walking which allowed me to eat sandwiches, Snickers, etc. Now the intensity is much higher, so I had to train my gastrointestinal system for that.”
“In terms of training, the adjustments weren’t too bad. I’ve always believed in the fact that ultra runners need speed incentives and not just volume. So I always do VO2max training and lactate threshold training, but just more consistently over the last four months to wake up the system.”
Once and never again?
“It will be my first and probably only UTMB” Sabbe himself recently wrote on his social media. A statement we are happy to submit to him. “Indeed, I’m pretty sure it will be just that once. The UTMB is really at the other extreme of the spectrum of what I usually do. I like to run in the quiet, nature and with friends close to me. The qualification process around the UTMB is also way too cumbersome for me. I ran in America in October and in South Africa in November. For the elite course, I really should have run another UTMB but for that I would have had to throw my training far too much upside down. If you have to rearrange your schedule to this race like that every year, no thanks.”
“The UTMB is at the other extreme of the spectrum of what I usually do,” he said.
ON trail shoe
A longtime ON athlete, Sabbe recently got a say in the development of an ON trail shoe. “The energy return was super important to me,” he explained. “Especially downhill and in the flat sections, that element is crucial. In addition, comfort is also essential: the shoes have to stay soft to the touch. At ON, they succeeded super well in that,” Sabbe said.
Friday, August 29, is the day. That’s when Karel Sabbe will begin his 174-kilometer passage around Mont-Blanc.
