{"id":23989,"date":"2024-04-08T07:02:56","date_gmt":"2024-04-08T07:02:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2024\/04\/08\/russ-cook-the-hardest-geezer-who-ran-the-length-of-africa\/"},"modified":"2024-04-08T07:02:56","modified_gmt":"2024-04-08T07:02:56","slug":"russ-cook-the-hardest-geezer-who-ran-the-length-of-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/russ-cook-the-hardest-geezer-who-ran-the-length-of-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Russ Cook: The Hardest Geezer who ran the length of Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

Russell Cook, the man nicknamed \u201cHardest Geezer\u201d, has successfully run the full length of Africa, crossing the finish line in Tunisia after 352 days.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before he set off on the mammoth challenge to run the entire length of Africa, he said he hoped to look back at his life and have no regrets.<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old from Worthing, West Sussex, said he had struggled with his mental health, gambling and drinking, and wanted to \u201cmake a difference\u201d.<\/p>\n

After running through 16 countries, he has raised in excess of \u00a3700,000 for charity and has completed his final run.<\/p>\n

As he crossed the finish line at about 16:40 BST in Ras Angela, Tunisia, Mr Cook was greeted by a shouting crowd, with many chanting \u201cgeezer\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m pretty tired,\u201d he told reporters and in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.<\/p>\n

Mr Cook told those who had been following his journey to the finish line: \u201cMission completed.\u201d<\/p>\n

A lot has changed since Mr Cook set off from home in February 2023.<\/p>\n

His initial plan to run from Tunisia to South Africa,\u00a0completing 360 marathons in 240 days\u00a0with no rest days, was soon halted by a lack of an Algerian visa \u2013 a hindrance that would later resurface.<\/p>\n

But after a last-minute switch, he set off on foot from South Africa\u2019s most southerly point on 22 April \u2013 a journey that would take him through cities, rainforests, mountains and the Sahara Desert.<\/p>\n

After ticking off South Africa and Namibia in 50 days, Mr Cook encountered his first major setback \u2013 an\u00a0armed robbery.<\/p>\n

He and his support team had cameras, phones, cash, passports and visas stolen in Angola on 24 June.<\/p>\n

However, as with many stumbling blocks he would face throughout the challenge, the ultrarunner vowed to soldier on.<\/p>\n

Consistently running more than a marathon a day began to take its toll.<\/p>\n

After some minor tummy troubles in the early weeks, he was forced to take his first rest day after doctors found blood and protein in his urine on day 45.<\/p>\n

But it was recurring back pain that caused the most concern.<\/p>\n

On day 200, Mr Cook was forced to reduce his mileage and intensity at the request of a doctor in Nigeria \u2013 even missing consecutive days on day 205 and 206.<\/p>\n

But in true Hardest Geezer style, he was not to be stopped.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cI took a couple of days to get some scans. No bone damage so figured the only option left was to stop mincing about like a little weasel, get the strongest painkillers available and zombie stomp road again.\u201d<\/p>\n

After overcoming everything in his path, it was a single piece of paper \u2013 an Algerian visa \u2013 that cast doubt over the entire challenge on day 278.<\/p>\n

Mr Cook was\u00a0forced to halt\u00a0while he waited to find out his fate as to whether he could secure permission to cross the border into Algeria from Mauritania.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we don\u2019t get the visas, then it is game over,\u201d he said at the time.<\/p>\n

His public appeal video on X, formerly Twitter, was seen by 11 million people \u2013 even catching the attention of the site\u2019s owner Elon Musk, as well as MPs Tim Loughton and Alexander Stafford and the\u00a0Home Office.<\/p>\n

The increased attention on the challenge eventually paid off as the UK\u2019s Algerian embassy announced he would\u00a0receive a courtesy visa\u00a0on the spot.<\/p>\n

After the setbacks, all that separated Mr Cook and the finish line was the small task of the\u00a0Sahara Desert.<\/p>\n

The tarmac roads ran out, as did the signal and any signs of civilisation. But an\u00a0end date\u00a0was set: 7 April, 2024.<\/p>\n

Ramping up his mileage to make up for lost time, Mr Cook made the decision to\u00a0run through the night\u00a0due to the intense daytime heat and sandstorms.<\/p>\n

Months turned into weeks, and weeks turned into days.<\/p>\n

Finally, on Sunday afternoon, Mr Cook laced his trainers one last time \u2013 at least for now \u2013 as he set off for Tunisia\u2019s most northerly point.<\/p>\n

Joined by supporters from across the world for the final marathon, Mr Cook completed the challenge.<\/p>\n

The celebrations will go long into the night \u2013 helped by a\u00a0finishing party performance\u00a0by British punk band Soft Play, formerly Slaves, at a hotel in Bizerte.<\/p>\n

And the Hardest Geezer will finally get his hands on the one thing he has been craving since day one \u2013 a strawberry daiquiri.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Russell Cook, the man nicknamed \u201cHardest Geezer\u201d, has successfully run the full length of Africa, crossing the finish line in Tunisia after 352 days. Before he set off on the mammoth challenge to run the entire length of Africa, he said he hoped to look back at his life and have no regrets. The 27-year-old […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23989\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}