Ready to complete the grueling challenge of running across the whole of Africa is a Briton.
Russ Cook, who calls himself the ‘Hardest Geezer’ on social media, has started the challenge and has been running for 350 days and crossed the border into Tunisia on Thursday night.
He started his journey in South Africa’s Cape Anguilla – the southernmost point of the African continent – in April 2023 and hopes to complete the 16,000km challenge on Sunday having now crossed 16 countries.
He claims he will be the first person to run the length of Africa if he completes the challenge.
After a year of running 385 marathons and facing hardships such as being mugged and kidnapped, the 26-year-old from West Sussex has now arrived in Tunisia and is preparing for the finish line with his supporters by his side.
Throughout his career Cook has raised money for two charities and has recently seen an increase in donations.
In the past seven days, it has raised more than £217,000 of its £568,000 total.
He raises money for The Running Charity, which supports the mental health of young people with complex needs or who are homeless, and Sandblast which educates people about Saharan culture.
However, as Sky News reports, his journey has not always been smooth sailing. While in Angola, he and his group were robbed by armed men. Their cameras, phones and passports were stolen.
Then, in August, Cook disappeared. He was separated from his supporters for days in the jungles of the Democratic Republic of Congo. They finally managed to free him by paying off villagers armed with machetes.
The most difficult point was in January, when he turned to social media to help him get a visa to cross the border from Mauritania to Algeria.
At the time, he said his challenge could be over if he didn’t get a visa, as there was “no other way” to get to the northern tip of Africa.
“It’s all hanging in the balance, to be honest,” he wrote.
After the massive social media campaign, the Algerian embassy said it would “grant him on the spot” a concession visa, meaning he could cross the border.
Although the route to Africa is the biggest challenge for him, it is not his first. At 22, Cook ran from Asia to England, completing 71 marathons in 66 days.
15,553km ran
368 marathons
15 countries 🇿🇦🇳🇦🇦🇴🇨🇩🇨🇬🇨🇲🇳🇬🇧🇯🇹🇬🇬🇭🇨🇮🇬🇳🇸🇳🇲🇷🇩🇿
£269k raised for charity
340 days✅ 11 left to go🫡 pic.twitter.com/rOLH7BwCC9
— Russ Cook (@hardestgeezer) March 27, 2024
He had only run the Brighton Marathon before deciding to run from Asia to England.
#British #man #manage #run #Africa #robbed #lost #jungle
2024-04-15 04:16:39
