Almost a year after Russ Cook began an arduous, on-foot trek across the length of Africa, he crossed the finish line in Tunisia on Sunday having run 16,000 kilometres through 16 countries.
Despite a large celebration at the finish line, the journey was no easy feat for Cook, known as “Hardest Geezer” online, who faced many sicknesses and was even robbed at gunpoint during his continental run.
Throughout his expedition, Cook and his supporters — who watched eagerly as the 27-year-old British man documented his movements on social media for 352 days — raised more than £790,000 (C$1.35 million) for charity.
Cook, who is an endurance runner, started his trek through Africa on April 22, 2023, at South Africa’s most southerly tip, Cape Agulhas. Over the past year, Cook has run through cities, villages, rainforests and the Sahara Desert.
When he reached the Tunisian city Ras Angela on Sunday, he was met by a number of his supporters and members of the press to celebrate the achievement. Several of Cook’s admirers even opted to run the last stretch alongside him.
The crowd chanted his internet alias “Geezer” as Cook finally reached the end of his run.
He celebrated with a dip into the ocean, then told Sky News the nearly year-long run was “good,” but joked he is “a bit tired.”
Sunday evening, Cook and his supporters celebrated the monumental achievement with a party at a hotel in the town of Bizerte. The British punk band Soft Play, formerly called Slaves, played music at the party while Cook celebrated with a long-awaited strawberry daiquiri.
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Cook has declared himself the first-ever person to run across the length of Africa, though the claim has not been without debate among the international endurance running community.
The World Running Association told The Guardian that one of its members, Jesper Kenn Olsen from Denmark, became the first person to run across Africa in 2010 during a trek that saw Olsen run the distance of several continents.
Regardless, Cook has said he decided to run the tremendous distance because he wanted to “make a difference,” as well as because running has helped him deal with his own struggles, namely drinking alcohol and gambling.
Health issues, robbery and a missing visa
Throughout most of his journey, Cook ran with a skeleton crew travelling in a van to support him.
In the first 50 days of his run, Cook crossed through South Africa and Namibia.
But on Day 45, Cook was forced to take a brief rest when he visited a doctor for stomach pain and discovered blood and protein in his urine.
Even still, Cook soldiered on.
Then, on Day 64 of his continent-spanning marathon Cook was robbed at gunpoint in Angola. He said the two thieves “demanded everything” and stole cameras, phones, cash and passports belonging to him and his team.
At the time, Cook told the BBC he and his team were “grateful to make it out alive.”
“We lost a few thousand quids worth of stuff which is a big problem for us, but we will endeavour to soldier on and get things sorted,” he said. “Almost everyone we’ve met in Angola has been really friendly and welcoming, so it’s a shame this happened, but c’est la vie.”
Cook told Reuters at the finish line that he only debated quitting once while in the Republic of Congo, where he’d been kidnapped by men with machetes.
“The scariest moment was in the Congo, when I was on the back of a motorbike, thinking I was about to die, getting driven into the jungle. That was pretty nuts,” he recalled.
Cook was eventually freed after the kidnappers were paid a ransom.
The running took a progressive toll on Cook’s body until Day 200, when he was forced to lessen his daily mileage amid intense back pain. Cook said he saw a doctor in Nigeria who completed tests and prescribed painkillers so he could keep running.
Though Cook continued his run, the fate of his journey was again questioned on Day 278. When he reached the border of Algeria from Mauritania, Cook was forced to wait for a visa into the country, one he wasn’t certain would arrive.
Five days after Cook posted a viral social media plea, the U.K.’s Embassy of Algeria granted Cook a courtesy visa.
“Please submit your visa application from where you are located,” the embassy told Cook on X, formerly Twitter. “Our Missions will grant you a courtesy visa on the spot.”
From Algeria, Cook continued on to his finish line and crossed a portion of the Sahara Desert, often running through the night to avoid intense daytime heat and regional sandstorms.
Cook and his followers are still raising money for the charities Sandblast, which works to empower the indigenous Saharawis of Western Sahara, and The Running Charity, a group that supports youth at risk of homelessness in the U.K.
Before his marathon across Africa, Cook ran from Asia to England in 71 days in 2020 when he was 22 years old. He ran from Istanbul, Tukey to his hometown in Worthing, U.K. The trek took 68 days.
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