KAT100 by UTMB: Gear & Race Tips

The 100 Miles starts Thursday at 18:00, so you climb into darkness within hours — while fresh — and mid-pack runners face a second full night on Friday. Plan the race around two sunsets, not one: pack double headlamp capacity in the vest from the gun, and decide in advance where in the course your low-energy hours (2–5am) will land so the terrain there doesn't surprise you. Source: kat.utmb.world

The flagship course packs over 9,000m of climbing into ~169km — roughly 53m of gain per kilometre, UTMB-grade steepness sustained for the whole race. The 45-hour cutoff (18 hours for the 75km Endurance Trail) rewards relentless efficient hiking far more than heroic running. Train steep uphill hiking economy specifically; it is the discipline this course actually examines. Source: kat.utmb.world

The organisers built the 100-mile route around a set-piece progression: golden hour on the Wildseeloder, the illuminated Jakobskreuz in the night, and sunrise from the Kitzbüheler Horn — the biggest single climb on the course with a panorama over the whole Alpine range. Between the postcards: rocky ridgeline passages and relentlessly steep grass mountains. Know the sequence and use the landmarks to segment the race mentally. Source: kat.utmb.world

The 75km Endurance Trail starts in Kitzbühel at 23:59 and climbs the Hahnenkamm almost immediately in the dark, with 4–5 headlamp hours before a sunrise on the panoramic ridges. Treat Friday as a sleep day: late lie-in, afternoon nap, no standing around at the expo. Runners who arrive at the start already 18 hours awake donate their race to the first night. Source: kat.utmb.world

Expect UTMB-standard mandatory equipment: waterproofs, long trousers and long sleeves, first aid kit, GPS device with the course track loaded, smartphone, and a fluid reserve. The organisers publish the final 2026 list close to the event, with the previous year's list as reference — check it the week before, not the night before, since items like specific water-column ratings send people shopping. Source: kat.utmb.world

Expect the full alpine spread in one race: mid-20s°C in the valley on Thursday afternoon, near-freezing wind-chill on exposed grassy ridges at night, and the ever-present August thunderstorm risk that can reroute courses across the Alps. The grassy Kitzbühel ridgelines offer little shelter — carry the mandatory layers as gear you will actually use, not dead weight for kit-check.

Drop-bag drop-off for the 100 Miles and Endurance Trail happens in the Fieberbrunn event hall between 12:00 and 16:00 — plan the race-day timeline around it, especially with an 18:00 start. The organisers publish a nutrition/aid-station planning document on the race site; build your drop-bag contents against the actual aid spacing rather than guessing. Source: kat.utmb.world

KAT100 runs five distances from an 8km Easy Trail to the ~169km/9,000m+ flagship, drawing over 1,500 runners from 57 nations. It is a UTMB World Series event: the 100 Miles requires 4 Running Stones to enter (Endurance Trail: 3) and both give direct UTMB Mont-Blanc finals access. The 2026 flagship races sold out well in advance. Austria's Esther Fellhofer came into 2025 as three-time defending champion. Source: kat.utmb.world, hdsports.org