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The “Hardest Geezer” became the first person in history to run the full length of the continent
It’s not your typical run in the park.
Over the past year, Russ Cook – AKA “The Hardest Geezer”, has trekked across Africa, with the aim of being the first person in history to run from the continent’s most southerly to northerly point.
It’s a journey that started out in Cape Agulhas, South Africa – Africa’s most southerly point – on April 23, 2023 and ended in Ras Angela, Tunisia – Africa’s most northerly point – on April 7, 2024.
During his journey Cook encountered a variety of issues, from being held at gunpoint in Angola and kidnapped in the Congo by a gang of men armed with machetes to visa troubles getting into Algeria and health scares such as recurring back pain.
That didn’t stop the 27-year-old from Worthing, West Sussex. Overcoming adversity time and time again, and more often than not running alone, Cook counted down the miles.
It was fitting that during the final stretch to Ras Angela, he was joined by a myriad of supporters who had flown in to run with him on the last leg of of the journey.
Russ Cook approaches the finish in Tunisia (Getty)
When he crossed the line, Cook was reunited with his girlfriend Emily and later on in the evening drank a long awaited strawberry daiquiri.
What makes his achievement even more impressive is when you delve into the numbers.
His journey from Cape Agulhas to Ras Angela was an astonishing 16,295km/10,125 miles.
The fact that it took him 352 days to complete the journey means that Cook averaged out 46.3km/28.7 miles per day for almost a year.
That’s the equivalent of 386 marathons. No surprise he went through 30 pairs of trainers.
Cook also travelled through 16 countries: South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Senegal, Mauritania, Algeria, and Tunisia.
In total, Cook completed approximately 19 million steps during that period. The longest single run he did in one day was 110km, 241 days into the journey.
Nicknamed ‘Project Africa’, Cook’s aim is to raise £1m for The Running Charity and Sandblast.
He is no stranger to challenges and previously ran from Istanbul to London while he also holds the record for the fastest marathon while pulling a car.
Cook’s claim to be the first person to run the length of Africa has been challenged by the World Runners Association (WRA).
They state that Jesper Kenn Olsen from Denmark was the first person to run the length of Africa, running the 12,791km distance from Egypt to South Africa.
The counterargument is that Olsen’s journey wasn’t from the continent’s most northerly to southerly point.
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