An extreme marathoner known as Worthing’s ‘Hardest Geezer’ runs across Africa without rest in an attempt to break records.
Russell Cook embarks on an arduous quest to race more than 15,000km on foot from the tip of South Africa to the northern coast of Tunisia.
To do this, he hopes to run a marathon every day until Christmas, with no breaks or rest days as he travels across the continent.
In the process, the 26-year-old, less than two weeks and 353 miles into his odyssey, will traverse 16 countries and brave some of the harshest environments known to man, including rainforests and deserts.
Russell, from Worthing in West Sussex, claims he would be the first person to make the journey and wants to ‘suffer’ while doing it, raising money for charity.
Russell Cook, pictured here in South Africa this week, walks from the southern tip of Africa to the northern coast of the continent
The 26-year-old, who is running in South Africa this week, will travel through 16 countries on foot
The athlete, who says he is a former “fat boy” with alcohol and gambling problems, was introduced to long-distance running when he competed in a half marathon at the age of 21.
He’s since built a reputation for trying strength and endurance runs – running 71 marathons in 66 days from Asia to London in 2019, pulling a Suzuki Alto 42 miles up the south coast and being buried alive for a week in 2021.
But #ProjectAfrica, as he calls it, is on another level and he doesn’t do things the easy way. The times he does not intend to make unnecessary stops during the journey.
He said, “Rest days don’t exist in my world. We don’t do rest days. They just take away the purity of the physical challenge. I’m here to suffer and rest days make it easy.
“Besides, no one has ever done this before, so I’m trying to set a fast time so no one tries to beat it.”
During his journey he will pass through South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Senegal, Mauritania, Algeria and Tunisia. .
While the magnitude of simply covering more than 15,000km would put many off, Russell will also have to contend with some of the world’s most inhospitable environments, as well as man-made problems.
He said: ‘I think it will be difficult to cross the Congo rainforest in the rainy season. One, just because the weather is getting miserable and two, because I don’t know if the van is going to make it.
“There is also some social unrest and geopolitical issues in different countries, so there are always potential problems.
The extreme runner, photographed in South Africa this week, aims to run a marathon every day, every day until Christmas
Russell travels from South Africa and through a total of 16 countries before ending in Tunisia
‘And the other one, of course, is the Sahara desert. I have about 4,000 kilometers [there] so it probably won’t be that easy.’
The extreme runner, who has a mantra of “you have one life, so attack it,” admits that he can cause permanent damage to his body in the attempt.
Russell began his journey on April 22, departing from Cape Agulhas in South Africa, and has since walked 11 days and a total of 568km.
He will be accompanied by travel companions Harry Gallimore and Stan Gaskell who will film his travels and make sure he feels as good and comfortable as possible.
Aside from the immense pride in completing the epic journey, Russell also raises money for charity.
Half of the proceeds go to The Running Charity, which helps young people who are homeless, and the other half goes to WaterAid, which provides clean water and toilets in Africa, among other places.
You donate to his fundraising page on https://givestar.io/gs/PROJECTAFRICA