“It is with pride that I write you to inform you about my successful Pacific Crest Trail speed record\u00a0attempt. I\u2019m Karel Sabbe, a 26 year old dentist from Belgium.<\/p>\n
![\"PCT](\"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/PCTMap.jpg\")
“The plan to run the PCT came into my mind about a year and a half ago, while hiking in New Zealand\u00a0with my good friend Joren Biebuyck. The trail had always been on my bucket list, after a few visits of\u00a0America\u2019s West coast. Due to working obligations I would not have the time to hike the trail, but\u00a0because I started running ultra distances the idea came to me to run the trail. I checked out the record,\u00a0which was set by Joe McConaughy and it was at a pace of 50 miles or\u00a080 km per day. This seemed hard\u00a0but doable. At that pace it took him 53 days and 6 hours to complete the 2650 mile long trail.<\/p>\n
“Telling Joren about my consideration of running the trail he was immediately interested, as he knew\u00a0my running potential was big. He\u2019s a physiotherapist and from the start he was up for it and suggested\u00a0he\u2019d come along to be my support team. So the plan was there, and a few months later we decided to\u00a0really go for it.<\/p>\n
“I started training a lot, ran many hours a week and signed up for some though races to prepare for the\u00a0challenge. The biggest part of my preparation was to compete in Morocco\u2019s Marathon des Sables, the\u00a0so-called \u201cToughest Footrace on Earth.\u201d I wanted to complete this race to learn more about running\u00a0in desert conditions and to be prepared for the multi-day aspect of the PCT record attempt and the\u00a0running with a backpack. I completed the 6-day race successfully and finished 37th out of 1200\u00a0competitors, being best Belgian.<\/p>\n
“I am very happy I did this race because the desert section of the PCT is very long, and very challenging.\u00a0The experience I got during the MdS got me confident for that. In the end I ended up with \u201conly\u201d one\u00a0heatstroke. I was hydrated enough but was overheating without realizing, not wetting my t-shirt often\u00a0enough. I got sick and had to vomit a few times and had to call it a day. Other than that we crossed the\u00a0dry desert section safely, but it did cost a lot of effort.<\/p>\n
“Then came the high sierras, a region I had visited the year before as I took a month exploring them. It\u00a0was nice to be in familiar and spectacular terrain, and we also knew that here was an opportunity to\u00a0gain a lead on the current record holder Joe. He averaged a little over 42 miles in this section. With\u00a0difficult access for Joren we decided on long and very hard days, but that way I would not have to run\u00a0with a sleeping bag etc. and I could meet Joren every night. I did average more than 50 miles a day in\u00a0this section. This got me to a day\u2019s lead compared to Joe and I managed to keep this day\u2019s lead to the\u00a0very end.<\/p>\n
“The thoughest day of the entire PCT was when after a 2 hour night\u2019s sleep I had to run 57 miles and do\u00a03 major alpine passes: Pinchot, Mather and Muir pass. Then I had to descend all the way to the Muir\u00a0Trail Ranch where I had booked a night. I arrived there at 11PM but everybody was asleep there. There\u00a0was one guy awake but he didn\u2019t want to wake up the manager and told me to leave the property. I\u00a0was desperate as I did not have food nor sleeping equipment and I was dead tired. In the end he woke\u00a0her up, and she heated up my prepared meal, showed me my cabin and told me about the hot spring\u00a0pool that they had in which I could soak. Oh,\u00a0how a miserable day can end magically.<\/p>\n
“Northern California was also hard with rough terrain and the feeling that the California section of the\u00a0PCT was endless. Nevertheless, after 34 days I made it into Oregon and set a new record for the\u00a0California section of the PCT.\u00a0What was hard for me mentally was the expectation of an easy Oregon section.<\/p>\n
“All hikers kept on\u00a0saying: yes but in Oregon you\u2019ll fly, etc. Oregon was definitely difficult as well and the terrain wasn\u2019t\u00a0that much easier than northern California. There were also sections with hundreds of fallen trees that\u00a0weren\u2019t cleared which slowed me down immensely. Then came a volcanic section with also very rough\u00a0terrain to run on. At the end of Oregon I had my mental lowest moment. My feet were aching horribly\u00a0and they were blistered and very damaged. I had to take painkillers for days in a row but would still\u00a0run in great pain. The softer terrain of the Washington section made them heal up though, and with\u00a0new mental power I was ready for the last stretch.<\/p>\n
“Even four days of very bad weather couldn\u2019t stop me, even though the heavy rain and wet conditions\u00a0got me new blisters and as I had lost all my fat reserves I was very cold all the time and had difficulties\u00a0keeping a good body temperature. The hardest night was when after a 54 mile day we realized the\u00a0trail that Joren was going to take to meet up with me wasn\u2019t maintained and possible to walk, so Joren\u00a0had to walk in on a trail that was 16 miles further north on the PCT and that was a 7 mile hike in. He\u00a0called with a satellite phone to inform me about this and we decided to go on through the night until\u00a0we would run into each other. We ended up doing that right after sunrise at 6AM. Luckily it didn\u2019t rain\u00a0that night, and every time I was falling asleep while running\/walking I laid down on the trail curled up\u00a0and slept a bit until the cold woke me up and then I continued.<\/p>\n
“We then slept for one hour and a half and continued the schedule as planned.\u00a052 days, 8 hours and 25 minutes after leaving the Mexican border I arrive at the Canadian border,\u00a0doing 22 hours better than the previous record set by Joe. The feelings that go through me are mixed\u00a0and I cry and laugh at the same time, feel glad and sad. Most of all I feel proud of what Joren and I\u00a0have accomplished. We finished the trail at about 51 miles per day and had a wonderful adventure.”<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n
While we are not into high speed wilderness travel, Sabbe’s feat certainly provided him with a unique view of the Pacific Crest Trail and proof of his endurance and mental fortitude. \u00a0We offer our congratulations!<\/p>\n
You can learn more about Sabbe and his adventures on his website.<\/a>\u00a0 Here’s a video showing part of his trek through California:<\/p>\n