On Sunday, April 7, 2024, Russ Cook dinner of the U.Ok,, higher often called the Hardest Geezer, accomplished his Challenge Africa, a run from the southern finish of the continent to its northernmost tip.
After 352 days of working, beginning in Cape Agulhas, South Africa, and ending in Ras Angela, Tunisia, Cook dinner accomplished the massive effort that has to date raised greater than £613,000 ($775,000) for 2 charities, the Working Charity and the Sandblast Charity. The run took him over 16,300 kilometers (10,130 miles) and thru 16 international locations, following the continent’s western border earlier than the ultimate crossing of the Sahara Desert.
A screenshot from one in all Russ Cook dinner’s YouTube movies as he entered Algeria close to the tip of his Challenge Africa. All pictures are screenshots from Cook dinner’s YouTube web page.
With a minimal help crew of buddies, a four-wheel drive camper truck, and a camper van, this was a far cry from an enormous manufacturing. Alongside the way in which, Cook dinner and his staff have documented his journey on varied social media channels, together with a standard YouTube collection. He’s developed a loyal following for his practically year-long journey by showcasing the journey’s highs and being sincere about all of the difficulties. His big pink beard and outgoing persona have made for enjoyable movies that confirmed the logistics of constructing such an enormous enterprise occur.
As anticipated, it didn’t all go as deliberate.
To begin with, he’d deliberate to do the run in reverse, however he ended up heading north as a substitute of south. And as soon as out on the highway, the plan had loads of surprising hiccups. At one time limit, he was robbed at gunpoint however managed to speak himself to security. He appears to embrace working via blowing sand first in a pair of swim goggles, after which in a set of upgraded lab goggles. Again points despatched him to the physician for x-rays, and meals poisoning had him vomiting on the facet of the highway.
When the sand and wind acquired dangerous, lab goggles had been the protecting clothes merchandise of alternative.
He crossed the 2 greatest deserts in Africa, first the Namib after which the Sahara. Between the infinite stretches of desert, he traversed the Congolian rainforest, the second-largest rainforest on this planet. And with all these landscapes got here the animals that Africa is legendary for. Overlook the lions and elephants, although, the issues related to getting visas and permissions for varied international locations seem to have been among the many greatest challenges.
However perseverance has paid off, and Cook dinner has completed.
Russ Cook dinner’s Challenge Africa route and progress with just a few days to go.
Cook dinner invited anybody to hitch the run for the ultimate day of working. Assembly at 10 a.m. native time on Sunday, April 7, he left the Shell fuel station in Ghezala, Tunisia, and ran till he hit the Mediterranean Sea. He had beforehand introduced plans for a correct finish-line celebration with a band and free lodging for individuals who come out to complete his journey in model.
Large working feats are nothing new for Cook dinner, and he’s accomplished a number of different huge run tasks. In 2019, he ran from Istanbul, Turkey, to London, England, in 66 days, traversing 11 international locations on the way in which. Regardless of his personal adventurous spirit, he’s additionally ever encouraging others to chase their goals and get out on their very own huge adventures.
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Russ Cook dinner working in Algeria with just one extra nation to enter earlier than the end.
