I’ve been following this for a while now, and I’m really glad to see that it finally seems to be getting a bit of traction (no pun intended).
Step forward (no pun intended) 26 year old Russ Cook aka “Hardest Geezer”, who is running the length of Africa. It was going to be North to South, but there were Algerian visa issues* and so he weirdly decided to start at the bottom and go uphill.
Nuts.
He’s running between 50 and 60 kilometres per day, and he’s knocked off SA in just over two weeks. Bear in mind that Cape Agulhas to the Namibian border will take you about 11 hours in a car, so 15 days is already just a ridiculous feat.
He’d still got another 215 days to go once he got to that border crossing though.
No rest days. 50 or 60 kilometres of running every single day. It’s unbelievable.
There’s an initially – and I’m going to use this word in the nicest possible sense – ramshackle support team with him in a beaten up old Iveco van, and they’re not only doing the prep and the food and the logistics so that he can concentrate on the running, they’re also documenting his progress on social media: there are updates on Instagram every day and two Youtube videos each week. You can already see how the team is learning and growing together. The nervous energy is giving way to solid hard work. There’s a bit of swearing, there’s some silliness, but there’s also an absolute will for Russ to succeed. It’s clearly an adventure for all of them.
Obviously, I had my eye on his progress through SA, especially the start at Cape Agulhas and through Cape Town. Here’s the video of his departure from just down the road:
That place where he started: I run there on cold Saturday mornings at the cottage.
And then I go home and I stop.
I don’t carry on until Tunisia.
Do watch the videos. The accent grates to begin with, but you soon warm to his positive attitude, his will to overcome any obstacles in his path, and his sheer bloody-mindedness.
Of course, the aim of all of this is to raise money for charity. You can support the project (ie. help pay for internet, food, lodgings, van repairs etc.) via Patreon here, and you can support his two charities:
here.
As I said at the start of this post, I just get the feeling that this is really about to take off, and it’s really well deserved. I can’t wait to follow Russ and his team all the way to Ras ben Sakka.
* Algerian Visa Issues are in session for Marc Riley next Wednesday