Waregem / Ghent –
160 kilometers, 12,130 vertical meters. That’s the Alta Via 2 in Italy. Karel Sabbe completed that journey in barely 37 hours and thus has another record to his name.
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“The heavier, the better”, says ultra runner Karel Sabbe (31) after traveling the Alta Via 2 in the Italian Dolomites. If it was nothing. The Waregem native, who now lives in Ghent, has just completed a 160-kilometer ‘trip’. As if the distance weren’t difficult enough, you cover another 12,130 vertical meters. (read more below the photo)
–Photo: Karel Sabbe
Karel also achieved that in just 37 hours and 15 minutes, good for a new record. The previous one dates from 1998 (!), Karel spent more than four hours there. A great time, especially when you know that it is suggested to walk the mythical route in about ten days.
Love for the mountains
Crazy? “Not too bad,” said the ultra runner. “The love for the mountains is simply so deeply rooted. I can keep climbing endlessly – that’s my strength. When a friend accompanied me after thirty hours, he had trouble coming along. One climb after another with good legs? That’s cool. The landscapes and surroundings also do a lot to this. After a night of suffering, a sunrise ensures that it does not matter that it is so difficult. ”
–Photo: Karel Sabbe
To suffer that night was a sleepless night in which dangerous roads had to be braved. “For example, there were some via ferrata courses along and on mountain walls where foot rails, support cables and handles serve as aids. Very steep and the loose stones did not make it any easier. One misstep and you end up in a ravine of up to 300 meters deep. Difficult, especially at night, because you really have to keep your mind on it. ”
Colorado Trail
In the end that worked out wonderfully. And saying that the Alta Via was not immediately on Charles’s schedule. “The intention was actually to do the 750 kilometer Colorado Trail, but then I was not allowed to go to the US due to corona,” says Waregem, who had fled to Ghent. “Plan B was to cross the Pyrenees, but Spain was the red zone.”
So with the Dolomites it became plan C. “Eight years ago I had already done the hike with friends in 10 days. In my head I knew I wanted to return to take the record here, ”he says. So what worked, partly thanks to the course knowledge? “I had forgotten that we had avoided some difficult sections at the time. That was quite a shock. ”
New Zealand
In the meantime, Karel is again thinking about his next goal. “First I rest for two weeks and I train for January”, it sounds resolute. “Then I would like to run the full length of New Zealand – good for 3,054 kilometers.”
He also hopes to set a record there. The way he now smashed the record on the Alta Via and had best times in the past on the Appalachian Trail in 2018 and the Pacific Crest Trail in 2016. Records that hold up despite fierce efforts. “When I do something, I don’t want to do it halfway. It would be a shame to see your record broken after a year. ”
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