From a terrifying robbery at gunpoint to being kidnapped by machete-wielding thugs in the jungle, Russ Cook's quest to become the first person to cross the entire length of Africa has by no means been a walk in the park.
The extreme marathoner – and self-proclaimed 'Hardest Geezer' – has also found urine in his blood, battled multiple illnesses and endured crippling back pain while navigating 9,000 miles on foot from the tip of South Africa to the northern coast of Tunisia.
Mr Cook, who hopes to raise £1 million for charity, has hiked deserts, jungles and mountains, while also dodging minefields and running through military zones while facing unthinkable challenges from every angle.
He admits it is 'tougher than anything' he has ever done before, but he has always remained positive and insists it has been 'beautiful'. He has raised more than £100,000 during his mission to run what amounts to more than 360 marathons.
One of Cook's most terrifying ordeals was when he was 'kidnapped' in the Democratic Republic of Congo in August by a gang of men armed with machetes.
Russ Cook, pictured here in South Africa, runs from the southern tip of Africa to the northern coast of the continent
Russ Cook is depicted after enduring the ordeal of being robbed at gunpoint by thugs during his extraordinary run
Mr Cook will travel from South Africa and through a total of 16 countries before ending in Tunisia
Mr Cook, who documents his mammoth challenge daily on his social media accounts, described the nightmare few days as 'the toughest of my life'.
'In an attempt to find the boys in a village on the Plan B route, I came across a rural settlement where the chief told me to give him money. I didn't have one,” the runner wrote on day 107.
He added: “So that went well. Soon I was surrounded by a lot of gaming guys with machetes. Was escorted out of the village into the bush.
'I emptied my bag to show that I had nothing but a half-eaten cookie. I gave it to them and fled. I spent the next few hours stumbling through overgrown jungle trails. I tried to stay off all tracks until I was far away.
'I reached the village on the plan B route and discovered that the road was again impassable for the support van. Exhausted and dehydrated, I started to head back to the last known place with passable roads when two guys on a bicycle stopped.
'They didn't speak English, but they tried to communicate. I have to come with them to get back to my friends.
'What happened next was a seven-hour motorcycle ride deeper into the jungle. In my head I thought this was it. Me. The self-proclaimed toughest guy. They are about to be held in a gulag in Congo before being dismembered and eaten limb by limb.”
Cook claimed his support vehicle was ambushed by “desperate guys with guns” and that the gunmen stole his team's cameras, cellphones and some passports.
Fortunately, Mr. Cook was driven into a village and moved to a hut, where he remembered a group of men arguing about what to do with him and discussing how much money he owed them.
After some back-and-forth negotiations, he was able to contact his team, who spent the next few days formulating a rescue plan.
Mr Cook eventually managed to escape and returned to his starting point that day, running another 60km on a new route. He admitted his head wasn't “completely there” but vowed to “move forward.”
This would certainly be enough to send most people back on the first flight home. But this wasn't even the first time Cook cheated death while trying to make history.
Just two months earlier, he was attacked by armed thugs in rural Angola.
Mr Cook claimed his support van was ambushed by 'desperate guys with guns' and that the gunmen stole his team's cameras, mobile phones, some passports and the cash they were carrying.
'Notorious bad situation that you end up in at the end. A good place to be bothered,” he joked in late June.
He added that none of his crew was injured during the armed robbery and thanked his hundreds of thousands of followers for their messages of support.
Russell began his journey on April 22 by departing from Cape Agulhas in South Africa, and has since walked some 3,000 kilometers
The 'Hardest Geezer' posted this photo in an update revealing he was surrounded by thugs with machetes
Cook shared an update the day after, saying, “Vibes has suffered a bit from yesterday's antics, but the only way out of this is to keep going.
'Hard times? Yes sir. Back for more? Absolute.'
As if being robbed at gunpoint and kidnapped by machete-wielding thugs wasn't enough, Cook also had to battle the fact that his own body sometimes failed him.
He has shared personal updates with his followers about suffering from food poisoning, being sick multiple times and finding blood in his urine.
Just 26 days after his challenge, Cook was unable to keep food down for two days due to stomach problems, although he insisted it would “always be part of this mission.”
Meanwhile, on day 45 – a rare day where he couldn't make any progress, he wrote: “Ahhhh the rest day I tried so hard to avoid. Went to the doctor this morning. Did tests. Blood and protein in my urine for the 4th day in a row.'
Cook admitted in an interview in October that he had to increase security because of the life-threatening moments.
He told Good Morning Britain: 'We went into it with blind aggression, like we didn't really know what we were doing and obviously ran into quite a few different problems… we hired some new team members with a lot of great experience. We have the help of a security company.'
Given the challenges Cook has faced, he continues to spread positivity and reflects on some of the happiest moments, including when large groups of runners joined him on his journey through Namibia, Rwanda and Angola.
The athlete, who calls himself a former 'fat kid' with alcohol and gambling problems, was introduced to long-distance running at the age of 21 when he took part in the half marathon.
He has since built a reputation for his attempts to test strength and endurance: he ran 71 marathons in 66 days from Asia to London in 2019, pulled a Suzuki Alto 26 miles along the south coast and was buried alive for a week in 2021.
Cook began his journey on April 22 by departing from Cape Agulhas in South Africa.
The runner raises money for charity as he attempts this extreme feat.
Half of the proceeds go to The Running Charity, which helps homeless young people, and the other half goes to WaterAid, which provides clean water and toilets in Africa, among others.