Yahoo News 'Hardest geezer' Russ Cook on what’s next after running length of Africa
After completing his run across the length of Africa in 352 days, Russ Cook, 27, from Worthing, West Sussex, revealed how he managed the feat, and what he plans next.
Russ Cook is making plans for his next challenge after running the length of Africa, despite claims he is not the first person to accomplish the feat.
The runner, known as the "hardest geezer", completed the gruelling 16,000km journey from South Africa to Tunisia on Sunday with hundreds of people cheering him across the line.
Cook, 27, from Worthing, West Sussex, spent 352 days on the mammoth challenge, covering more than 19 million steps across almost 10,000 miles in 16 countries.
He claims he is the first person to run the length of Africa, but a small running association has challenged this, saying one of its members did so back in 2010.
Cook arrived at Ras Angela, Tunisia’s most northerly point, on Sunday afternoon and was greeted with shouts and cheers from those who had flown out to meet him.
On Monday, in his first interview since completing the run, he said he is already looking out for his next challenge.
When asked on ITV's Good Morning Britain if he might run across North America next, Cook replied: "I'm not sure that's difficult enough. I will look around and have a scout around the map."
Who is Russ Cook, the 'hardest geezer in Worthing'?
Russell Cook, 27, from Worthing, West Sussex, is nicknamed "hardest geezer" and took on the challenge to run from the bottom to the top of Africa to "make a difference".
He said he had previously struggled with his mental health, gambling and drinking.
His run, called Project Africa, has raised more than £700,000 for charity for two charities, the Running Charity and Sandblast, the latter of which is a UK-registered charity raising awareness of the indigenous Saharawi people of western Sahara.
He set off from South Africa’s most southerly point on 22 April 2023 and has faced visa complications, health scares and an armed robbery.
Watch: 'Hardest geezer' Russ Cook describes relief after finishing run the length of Africa
Cook celebrated his feat with a strawberry daiquiri and "a few beers" at a finish line party at a hotel in Bizerte, Tunisia, which featured a performance from the British punk rock duo Soft Play.
He was reunited with his girlfriend, Emily Bell, who told GMB: "It's been scary, terrifying at times."
Cook and his team suffered food poisoning about a month into their attempt, and they were robbed at gunpoint in Angola and had their cameras, phones, cash and passports stolen.
Doctors found blood and protein in Cook's urine at one point, and he fought against recurring back pain for much of the run.
Almost a year into the journey, Cook thought he might have to abandon the run because he and his team could not secure visas to go through Algeria, but politicians answered his pleas on social media and he was granted the necessary paperwork through the Algerian embassy.
Cook said on Monday: "The thought of not running today is mad after running all year. My body's finally been like, "Nice one mate".
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"It's quite hard to contemplate the whole thing."
Asked if prime minister Rishi Sunak should be meeting him after his accomplishment, Cook said: "I don't know about all that. Maybe I'll text him, see if he's up for a 5K or something."
Has anyone else run the entire length of Africa?
Cook has claimed to be the first person to run the entire length of Africa, but a small running association has disputed this.
The World Runners Association (WRA), which comprises just seven members, says the first person to complete the feat was Denmark's Jesper Olsen, running 7,949 miles from Taba in Egypt to the Cape of Good Hope in South African in 434 days between 2009 and 2010.
The group said Olsen, then 37, ran the length of Africa as part of a two-year long world run from Norway to Canada.
The first person ever to run the entire length of Africa. Mission complete🫡 pic.twitter.com/PZk5aDCDgH
— Russ Cook (@hardestgeezer) April 7, 2024
Phil Essam, its president, said: “The WRA recognises Mr Jesper Kenn Olsen of Denmark as the first person to have run the full length of Africa.
“The World Runners Association therefore contests the claim made by British national Mr Russ Cook to be the first person to run the length of Africa.”
Olsen told The Telegraph that two other WRA members, France's Serge Girard and Ireland's Tony Mangan, had also ran the length of Africa.
It has been reported that Guinness World Records has been asked to clarify who is the first person to run the length of Africa.
On Monday, when asked about claims other runners had crossed Africa before him, Cook told GMB: "I haven't heard anything about it. There's plenty of people before me who have done plenty of big runs, so fair play to them."
