Repeat offender: Extreme athlete Carsten Neder from Wessling runs 25 hours backwards
Created: 11/04/2022 10:06 am
By: Petra Straub
Carsten Neder walked the steps of the giant sculpture "Tiger & Turtle" in Duisburg day and night and collected donations for the José Carreras Leukemia Foundation.
© Carsten Neder
Weßling – Carsten Neder (46) from Weßling is a freelance graphic designer and running coach.
But in his spare time he does extreme sports and makes headlines with extremely crazy actions.
In Duisburg he ran backwards and forwards in a stair sculpture for 25 hours at a time over the weekend.
He has a good reason for this.
In 2018 he ran up and down the steps of the Olympic Tower for 24 hours.
In 2021 he started the action backwards and set a world record.
Last weekend he defeated the giant sculpture "Tiger and Turtle" in Duisburg - also backwards!
He does it out of gratitude for his good life. "I'm not a millionaire, but I'm healthy and my kids are healthy," he says.
And he collects donations for the José Carreras Leukemia Foundation in Munich.
"Leukemia must be curable," says Carsten Neder.
He collects donations for cancer research with extreme sports events.
© Carsten Neder
Carsten Neder is neither depressed nor tired when he talks to KREISBOTEN a few days after the action in Duisburg.
"I don't have any sore muscles either," he assures, although this time on the day of the time change he even walked up and down the stairs for 25 hours at a time instead of a whole day.
He only allowed himself a few small breaks to eat, drink and get a massage in between.
The atmosphere on site was bombastic, he says.
And: There was around 17,000 euros for the effort - not for him, of course, but for the José Carreras Leukemia Foundation in Munich.
As a reward, he and his seven volunteer friends who accompanied him and looked after the campaign received a lot of encouragement from the spectators, enthusiasm for Neder's physical commitment and for the good cause.
"About 1
000 euros were donated on site,” says Neder happily.
Two major sponsors had already pledged 15,000 euros in advance.
Another 1,000 euros came from donations via SMS.
So the effort was more than worth it!
In Duisburg, the extreme athlete climbed 64,000 stairs in 25 hours
In order to be able to carry out such campaigns, the Würzburg native completes one to three training units during the week – running, swimming or cycling.
On the weekends he runs several times 30 to 40 kilometers in one go.
"It's completely normal for me," he says.
Carsten Neder ran marathons and half marathons for a long time before he switched from the road to the mountains and immediately smelled a rat at the first ultramarathon on the Zugspitze.
"Once you've started..." says Neder.
Since then, this sport has not let him go.
But that's not all: In between, he looks for further challenges and plans extreme sports events.
About running backwards.
He trained himself to do this in six months.
He walked 87,720 steps in the Olympic Tower last year, more than 64.
It was 000 this weekend in Duisburg - he climbed the 368 steps 174 times.
The fact that he wasn't able to top his own world record doesn't bother Neder.
Because during the run there were simply too many visitors on the stairs and it was difficult to get through.
And it was primarily about the good cause, the presentation of the foundation's work.
Carsten Neder works hard for sick children
For many years, the family man from Wessling has been collecting donations for charitable organizations with his sporting activities.
Initially for the initiative for children with cancer in Munich and for the addiction counseling center Condrobs.
Through this commitment, the Josè Carreras Leukemia Foundation approached him.
Carsten Neder wants to give something back to society in his own way.
Last but not least, the visit to the Schwabing Children's Hospital is a lasting memory.
Two years ago he visited the little patients and was more than impressed by their bravery and strength.
"I can work hard for that," he says, "leukemia has to be curable."
And he makes it clear that he already has a new event in mind that he would like to get involved with.
The stairs of the giant sculpture in Duisburg are of different heights, not all of the same depth and width.
This made the action of Carsten Neder from Wessling more difficult.
© Carsten Neder
Neder's current action will soon be reported on television at the José Carreras Gala on Wednesday 7 December.
Will he reveal what action he is planning next?
(www.carsten-neder.de)