BRITISH MAN SUCCESSFULLY RUNS THE LENGTH OF AFRICA IN JUST 352 DAYS
Russ Cook covered the entire length of Africa in 352 days. The 27-year-old West Sussex native left South Africa on April 22, 2023, and on Sunday, he arrived at the coast of Tunisia, ending his journey. Cook ran 9,940 miles (16,000 kilometres) in total, averaging roughly 47 miles (65 kilometres) per day, except for days missed due to illness or other unavoidable circumstances. Cook, whose Instagram handle has earned him the moniker "Hardest Geezer," travelled a dangerous distance to accomplish his objective, but he wasn't travelling alone.
Before a skeleton crew helped Cook during his run, dozens of devoted fans from around the globe flew in to watch him finish on Sunday. Since then, he has gained more than a million Instagram followers, many of whom kept an eye out for his daily updates while he travelled throughout the continent. Alongside Cook, a small group of editors uploaded his videos to YouTube, where he currently has over 195,000 subscribers.
Cook raised over $965,000 for different charities during his nearly year-long journey, and he never lost hope even after realising he would not finish the run in time for Christmas. In addition, the runner encountered other difficulties, such as being robbed at gunpoint, getting lost in the rainforest, and dealing with sandstorms in the middle of the Sahara Desert. Either way, nothing was going to keep him from realising his goals.
As it happens, though, Cook's issues persisted even after his run was over. The first person to run the entire length of Africa is Jesper Kenn Olsen, a 52-year-old Danish ultra-marathoner who recently came forward to claim that he actually finished the same run as Cook in 2010. Olsen has shown good sportsmanship in the face of the controversy, telling reporters that Cook "is definitely the fastest," even though he may not have been the first.
Since then, people have been sharing Cook's story on Reddit and it has gone viral, with many leaving comments about it. "And then there's me who, while in shape, still gets winded eating a sandwich sometimes," writes a Redditor. Bravo to this man. Perhaps Cook's achievement can serve as an example for all of us.