Pacing The Pacific | Running The Fastest Known Time On The Pacific Crest Trail

His friend and family group are some of the if not the most genuine, supportive, and selfless friend/family group i have ever seen.

I am so proud to be PCT through hiker class 2023! Karel passed me on fire detour north of Holden Village when I was lost, and I saw him hiking higher than me. He saved me without knowing that. I also met Henri the day earlier when he and other person were hiking south, one with backpack and the other with a big camera in his hand, to set up tent for Karel that night, and they told me Karel is trying to set PCT record. I was there to witness it!

This is NUTS. He absolutely smashed his previous record + a 100 mile detour????

"looked like i just completed the barkley marathons" is such a humble flex, you gotta love Karel

Fellow fans: if you liked this, "you might also like"... 1. The Quest for the Crest, aka Karel and Joren's 2016 PCT adventure, likewise available on YouTube. Awesome accomplishment, with Joren bringing the dedicated-multicompetent-badass-ultra crew energy, with a side of comic relief. ("Ultra crew": if only there were a Guinness record for that accomplishment.) Also, I assume the reason the final installment ends on a cliffhanger, with a promise of a next installment that never came, is because Karel and Joren were subsequently too busy performing the all-important feats of not dying, powering through night-long hallucination-riddled runs after missed meetups, talking closed ranches into opening to a stranded ultrarunner, and avoiding maulings by deer that liked to impersonate bears. (IOW, why this documentary opens with "That was traumatic. Wanna do it again?" "Nope!") 2. Remember when Karel mentions getting encouragement from fans along the way? One of them, surely the nuttiest (in the best possible way), reported his encounter in a blog post that does its part to carry on Karel and Joren's tradition of comic relief on the PCT. Google "Karel Sabbe loves me." 3. If you're here, you probably already know about the Barkley, but if not, google it and Karel's name, and you'll get great legendary moments such as: the time Karel was the last man standing (hell, there was not a lot of standing, he was the last man running up a mountain in the mud at night), the time Karel consulted with trash cans, the time Karel joined an elite club of runners who have given their friends and families heart attacks with six minutes to go. Now if you'll pardon me, I'm off to run a mile and press a button saying, "That was hard."

It was so cool to see and cheer Karel on as he dipped his shirt in the stream and passed us in NorCal. What an amazing feat to do the whole trail in just 46 days. This was such an exceptional year to thru-hike the PCT, and I'm so glad to hear he felt like a part of the class of 23, because we all felt the excitement of his run too!

It was a fantastic record, but I think even more important is the teamwork, togetherness, and semblance of normalcy from his team and family. Karel is an amazing distance athlete made all the more amazing by the love and support of his family and friends.

So first you and Joren go off into the wild with no idea what you're doing, figure it out as you go along, and set the record ANYWAY, and then you come back better prepared with a larger crew, but in a year of maximum snowfall and a crazy wildfire detour...and you crush the record! Do you have wings on your feet, Karel? About the documentary: I really enjoyed it! I would have paid full movie price, but hooray for free YouTube access. After a 10-year break due to a foot injury, my recent discovery of ultrarunning documentaries has gotten me back into...we'll call it micro-running, at least to start with :'D. Wholehearted thanks to everyone involved--on this documentary and all the ultrarunning documentaries, videos, etc.--for the inspiration as well as the entertainment. You should have seen me yesterday: "Should I take an umbrella? ...Self, did Karel Sabbe have an umbrella? Did John Kelly have an umbrella? No more excuses, run UP that hill!" In conclusion, mad props to runner and crew alike. You all are amazing, and I'm glad there are filmmakers to document just how amazing.

I had the opportunity to meet karel and crew on trail this year. karel had just ran california in less than 30 days. it took me 3 times that lol. i chatted with his crew and anna gave me an orange soda. a few hours later i saw karel and henri at a water source, chatted for a minute and they ran off after a selfie. such friendly people. such an incredible achievement. congratulations guys!!!

After hiking the trail myself this year, watching this documentary brought back a flood of emotions. Even though our journeys had significant differences, what Karel and his crew accomplished is truly remarkable, especially considering the additional miles they had to cover due to re-routes and the high snowpack. I am grateful that this successful attempt was documented, and I commend Karel for his unwavering determination and resilience.

This film did such a great job showing the story of the support crew working in sync with FKT runner. Incredible work.

Congratulations from Brazil. So inspiring. I'm about to run my 30th marathon in 2 weeks, and this video is super inspiring!

Henri stole the show for me. What dedication. Good job Karel and team

An absolutely MIND BLOWING accomplishment from Karel and everyone else involved in this attempt, including everyone behind the scenes in making this happen and making this film come to life!

I got to meet Karel on trail as he passed me in the Carson Pass area of the Sierra. So great to briefly meet you and be a tiny part of this with giving beta on the trail ahead as we were sobo. Your kindness matched what I see here in the video. -GoalTech

love this dude, was so stoked to see him finish the Barkley Marathons recently too

Great achievement and great documentary of it. What consistently blows my mind with Karel's trail achievements is that he's not a full-time sponsored athlete living at altitude; he's a husband, father and dentist living in one of the flattest European countries - and somehow he makes the time, trains and makes his dreams realities.

Beautiful! What a healthy and flourishing dynamic in this crew under such high pressure

An incredible accomplishment. Everyone involved is an absolute monster! Holy cow, I can't imagine having to take a huge pack 20 miles in the mountains to meet up and resupply Karel, who had done 60 miles. Goodness, the effort needed is mind boggling.

I bet there is an 80% chance the biggest reason he went supported was so someone could charge his electric toothbrush.