Who is Russ Cook? Everything about the British endurance athlete who ran the entire length of Africa

Russ Cook, also known as Russell Cook, is an endurance runner from Great Britain.

He recently hogged the spotlight after achieving an incredible feat where he became the first human being to run the entire length of the African continent. It took him 352 days to complete over 16,000 km (9,940 miles) running through 16 countries.

Cook began the grueling marathon named 'Project Africa' on April 22, 2023, in Cape Agulhas, South Africa, and ended his journey on April 7, 2024, in Ras Angela, Tunisia.

During this challenge, he collected $870,000 (600,000 pounds) for two separate charities - the Running Charity, and the Sandblast. Running Charity is known for providing running and mental health programs to young homeless people, while Sandblast is a UK-based charity for raising awareness for the indigenous Saharawis of Western Sahara.

Let's dive into knowing more about the endurance runner who scripted history by running the complete length of Africa.

Where is Cook from?

Russ Cook hails from Worthing, West Sussex, and was born on March 13, 1997.

What are the 16 countries that Russ Cook traveled to as a part of Project Africa?

Popularly known as the Hardest Geezer, he traveled to 16 countries, which included South Africa, Namibia, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Senegal, Mauritania, Algeria, and Tunisia.

What were the obstacles that Cook faced during his journey?

Russ Cook had to face multiple difficulties during this demanding marathon which included being held at gunpoint amid a robbery where he and his support team lost their cameras, phones, visas, passports, and cash in Angola.

Losing the passport eventually led to a two-week delay as they did a round-trip of 4,000 km to Namibia to obtain new documents to move further during the journey. In addition, he also overcame health issues like food poisoning and back injury.

Besides these, he and his team experienced border issues, route extensions, and extreme weather conditions.

What are some other achievements of Russ Cook?

Additionally, Cook is known for running from Istanbul, Turkey to Worthing, England in just 68 days. He ran the 2000-mile journey starting from the Asian side of Turkey and ending the challenge at the Worthing Pier.

The ultramarathon runner also became the first person to attain a world record for completing the fastest marathon run whilst pulling a car in 9 hours and 56 minutes.