A Worthing man has become the first person to run the complete length of Africa north to south. It has taken him just under a year under a year. He is dumbest as the “hardest
Russ Cook, 27, began his trek at Africa’s most southerly point, Cape Agulhas in South Africa, on April 23th, 2023. Hefinished the trek in Ras Angela, Tunisia which is the most northern northerly point of Africa, on April 7, 2024.
Cook experienced setbacks including being held at gunpoint in Angola, kidnapped in the Congo by a gang of men with machetes and visa troubles getting in Algeria. He also suffered health scares such as recurring back pain.
The distance between Cape Agulhas to Ras Angela is 16,295km/10,125 miles which is equal to 386 marathons. He went through 30 pairs of trainers.
The journey took 352 days to complete the which means that Cook averaged out 46.3km/28.7 miles per day for almost a year. He took 19 million steps during that journey including day 241 when he ran 110k in a single day.
He travelled through 16 countries: South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Senegal, Mauritania, Algeria and Tunisia.
Cook wrote on Twitter about completing his journey: “Ran africa. Was proper hard. Got it done. Strawberry daiquiri secured. Gave my beautiful girlfriend a big kiss. Went absolutely potty to @softplayband at the afters. Back in the UK later.”
Ran africa. Was proper hard. Got it done. Strawberry daiquiri secured. Gave my beautiful girlfriend a big kiss. Went absolutely potty to @softplayband at the afters. Back in the UK later pic.twitter.com/E6XYckalof
— Russ Cook (@hardestgeezer) April 9, 2024
Cook hopes his efforts will raise £1m and, at time of writing he has raised 85% of the total. You can donate to his fundraising page, in aid of The Running Charity and Sandblast, here.