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news
Jens Voigt (picture via Strava).PNGJens Voigt to run seven marathons in seven days for charity
Retired pro cyclist Jens Voigt has announced his latest charity challenge – and while, as ever, he’ll be employing his catchphrase “Shut Up Legs!” it won’t be while he’s pedalling, as the German sets himself the task of running seven marathons in seven days.
Supported in his effort by Fitbit, the 46-year-old will be raising funds for Tour de Cure, which was also the beneficiary of his successful attempt to ‘Everest’ Berlin’s Teufelsberg in January this year, when he raised more than €28,000 for the cancer charity.
> Video: Jens Voigt completes challenge to 'Everest' hill in Berlin
Entitled Jensie’s Marathon Madness, the challenge will take place from 2-8 January 2018 on a 7.1 kilometre course in the German capital’s Grunewald.
That means that Voigt, who will be running the course between 12 noon and 4pm each day, will have to run just shy of six laps to complete the 41.195-kilometre marathon distance, and 42 laps over the week as a whole.
“After my Everest Challenge a while back, which was already a special achievement, this is something I want to do for two reasons,” he said.
“First and foremost, I was overwhelmed by the positive feedback for my Everest Challenge in the beginning of the year.
“I want to raise as much awareness and funds as possible for the fight against cancer.
“The second reason is that I love to challenge my limits.
“I love to go above and beyond, trying to see what my body and mind are capable of. And what's a better way to do this than running seven marathons within a week?
It will possibly be the challenge that embodies my motto ‘shut up legs’ like nothing else I’ve ever done before.“
“Of course, people might think I’m crazy to do something like this,” he added.
“But hey, I never said I wasn‘t.”
Anyone who finds themselves in Berlin and fancies sticking their trainers on to join him for a lap or three during the challenge is invited to so.
Donations to Tour de Cure can be made here, while you can follow Voigt on Strava here.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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50 comments
That's nice hun.
*swoons*
Sounds easy, reckon I could do that carrying you and your bike!
Oh FFS,
I'm the same age, a bit fat and hardly run at all and I could do that, to be honest you wouldn't even have to run as it's not that far.
I really can't be doing with people publicising a fairly average 'achievement' which is actually a personal goal then fobbing it off as a charitable act.
Just seems like an opportunity to boast about something twice, if not more. If you want to be taken seriously as a person who's concerned about the suffering of others try doing something that doesn't tick one of your bucket list of selfish goals while making you look like a superman.
He'd get far more respect and money from me if he sat in a bath of baked beans for a week.
As for 'Everesting' anything except...erm...Everest, just no. Did you have to ride past the corpses of people who'd tried before? Did you have to pay Kenton Cool half a million to hold your hand? Did you have to wait weeks for a weather window and then use supplemental oxygen? No, no and no. You just did one easy thing repeatedly, you 'Everested' nowt.
There are hundreds of people doing far more imressive things than this bloke all the time who barely mention it even to their friends because they're not egomaniacs and are smart enough to know it's a selfish thing done for their own sense of achievement, which is enough.
In years to come is he going to look back on how he helped a charity (which he could have done by quietly volunteering) or how far he ran in a certain time?
I'm pretty sure that you couldn't. Try running just one marathon, tomorrow. Nice and slowly. Then see whether you fancy another the next day. Your other points are debatable.
I think Simboid is being ironic, and to some extent taking the piss out of the first reply. I bloody well hope he is anyway!
Good luck Jens!
Good points. You have to reckon he knows how to put his body through pain,on the e other hand he's trained for a different sport and quite a niche element of it.
The fact is he's using his personality to raise both awareness and money should be celebrated.
SHUT UP LEGS & ETON
Comparing cycling 100 miles with a marathon is not wildly inacurate. They are both long physical challenges that can be done more or less easily, depending on how fast you want to be. However, increasing distance in running is not like increasing distance in cycling. Most cyclists who could cycle 50 miles could take that up to 100 with just a bit more food as long as they were prepared to travel more slowly. Most runners who could run a HM would need a lot more training to complete a marathon. It's just the impact on your body. I hope Jens has done enough mileage in preparation because even he will struggle to get by on willpower alone, no matter how steady he takes things.
It will not be easy.
Eton, I've heard that running a marathon is difficult.
I've heard it compared to cycling 100 miles.
Running a marathon is a lot harder than cycling 100 miles.
I agree, though it all depends on how hard you push yourself. I've not run a marathon, but at the end of a lumpy 200km (124miles) at 20-24km/h, I feel fairly drained, but nothing like I imagine a marathon would feel like.
Each to their own, I'd disagree.
Shrug. I've done 10 in 10 and I'm not a professional athlete, let alone one who's come from a background of day after day of long suffering in the saddle.
It's good that he's raising money for charity, and I love the character of Jens Voight but 7 in 7 for someone like him really is no outlandish feat.
I have cycled 100 miles on a brompton and ran my first marathon last year. I can confirm that running a marathon is a lot harder from my perspective as a 17 st man.
Seems a bit pointless. As he says, he's going to jog around at 6.5mph each day. That still leaves him 20 hours each day to eat and rest. It's not even that difficult - most squaddies do stuff far more challenging during basic training.
Surely the real challenge is overcoming the boredom of covering the same ground hour after hour.
Probably won't see you out there doing it, tough guy.
Easy to make with the yak while you're parked at a keyboard.
As I've pointed out, it is not that difficult. Interesting that you can only make feeble ad hominem insults instead of refuting what I've said.
Even your 'average' infantry squaddie doesn't run or prepare to run marathons, yes the training is intense (I wasn't infantry) and there are lots of extreme situations you wouldn't find yourself in on a marathon course but each persons endeavour is a challenge for themselves.
Why has this irked you so much, does it really matter if it isn't something that is really out there on the limits of endurance physically, maybe he just wants to do something that he knows he is capable of finishing whilst being a good challenge for him, maybe he doesn't want to push himself to the max anymore and maybe he just wants to help someone else out through his efforts.
Sorry but you've lost the plot with your ramblings and attack on him and for no reason other than you personally don't think it's difficult enough.
“The second reason is that I love to challenge my limits.
“I love to go above and beyond, trying to see what my body and mind are capable of. And what's a better way to do this than running seven marathons within a week?
It will possibly be the challenge that embodies my motto ‘shut up legs’ like nothing else I’ve ever done before.“
He clearly does want to push himself to the max and is prepared to talk about it far more than the charity he is fundraising for.
Well, if you ever get down from Mt Literal you can tell us all about how Jensie boffed your Mrs or weed in your coffee or something.
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