Russel Cook, a 27-year-old runner from Worthing, West Sussex, just finished running the entire length of Africa. Russ finished running 10,000 miles in 352 days, he reached the the northern point of Africa almost a year after leaving the southern tip. Mr. Cook ran an equivalent of 385 marathons and in total, he ran through 16 countries on his journey to run the entire length of a continent.
“I’m a little tired,” he said once he finished his race.
In the course of his journey, he was delayed by theft, injury, and visa problems. Once he finished his race, Cook said that the only time he considered quitting was when he was kidnapped in the Congo by a gang armed with machetes.
Cook mentioned that running is a coping mechanism that helps him deal with his mental health struggles and his addiction.
His run across the continent of Africa has raised more than 775,000 pounds ($978,000) for the running charity that works with young homeless people and the Sandblast, a charity that helps displaced people from Western Sahara.
Russ Cook, nicknamed “Hadest Geezer,” documented his entire run on his TikTok account: @hardestgeezer.
Many people are saying that Russell Cook was the first person to run the entire continent of Africa; however, that title is being contested by the World Runners Association.
Jasper Kenn Olsen, a 52-year-old Danish Ultrarunner said that he completed a similar journey in 2010. A member of the WRA said that Olsen ran from Taba, Egypt to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. He started on 28 December 2008 and finished in March 2010 after running close to 13,000km (7,948 miles) over 434 days. He says that it’s not about who comes first, it is “that you always recognize who came before,” and that is what ultramarathon running is.
