In trail running, a kilometre can take four minutes or 20. For Daniel Claassen, that makes time a more meaningful measure than distance.
“I would look at hours in a week,” he says of his ultramarathon training. Time determines when he runs, eats, drinks, and rests. On a larger scale, it measures something harder to quantify: the years required to become capable of tackling a race such as the HOKA UTMB Mont-Blanc.
The 174km race around the Mont Blanc massif is the pinnacle of the UTMB World Series and notoriously difficult to enter. Daniel earned his place by winning a qualifying race, having previously completed the 100km CCC (Courmayeur-Champex-Chamonix) at UTMB. “It’s been a bit of a long-term journey to get here,” he says.
That long game has taught him patience. “It’s years and years of preparation… stacking those bricks year after year,” he says. Chasing quick results, he discovered, generally leads to injury, fatigue or burnout.
His final preparation requires another investment in time. Daniel will be spending three weeks in France, Italy and Switzerland leading up to the race on 28 August , acclimatising after moving from sea-level Cape Town to trails averaging roughly 1 800–2 400m above sea level. European trails are also smoother and faster than South Africa’s famously technical terrain.
There is another reason three weeks is his “sweet spot”: family.
Until recently, Daniel combined a full-time career with more than 15 hours of training a week. Becoming a father changed the equation. He stepped away from his job to pursue running professionally, supported by Asics and Maurten, while creating more space for his wife and six-month-old son. “I realised that this is not sustainable and my family is going to get the leftovers of me and not my full attention.”
It makes Tudor’s new partnership with the UTMB World Series particularly apt. The watchmaker’s ‘Born to Dare’ philosophy celebrates the commitment behind reaching the start line, not simply the finishing time.
“I’ve never been comfortable simply choosing the easiest path or living too comfortably. I’m drawn to challenges that demand something more from me, both physically and mentally. So, the ‘Born to Dare’ philosophy resonates strongly with me. UTMB represents that kind of challenge. The opportunity to race it does not come around every year, so earning a place on the start line means a great deal to me. It is one of the most iconic races in the sport and the result of years of work, consistency and belief.”
For Daniel, after hundreds of hours of preparation, that moment is already worth celebrating. “I remind myself that it’s such a privilege to do what I do,” he says. “Getting to a start line almost feels like a celebration.”
