The insane stats behind Russ Cook’s run across Africa

Over the past year, Russ Cook, popularly known as “The Hardest Geezer," has trekked across Africa, intending to be the first person in history to run from the continent’s most southerly to the most northerly point.

It’s a journey that started in Cape Agulhas, South Africa—Africa’s most southerly point—on April 23, 2023, and ended in Ras Angela, Tunisia—Africa’s most northerly point—on April 7, 2024.

The runner reports encountering a variety of security and health issues but that didn’t stop the 27-year-old from Worthing, West Sussex. Overcoming adversity time and time again, and more often than not running alone, Cook counted down the miles.

It was fitting that during the final stretch to Ras Angela, he was joined by a myriad of supporters who had flown in to run with him on the last leg of the journey.

When he crossed the line, Cook was reunited with his girlfriend Emily and later on in the evening drank a long-awaited strawberry daiquiri.

What makes his achievement even more impressive is when you delve into the numbers.

What are the numbers?

His journey from Cape Agulhas to Ras Angela was an astonishing 16,295km.

The fact that it took him 352 days to complete the journey means that Cook averaged out 46.3km per day for almost a year.

That’s the equivalent of 386 marathons. No surprise he went through 30 pairs of trainers.

Omanyala willing to give 200m a chance

Cook also traveled through 16 countries: 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.

In total, Cook completed approximately 19 million steps during that period. The longest single run he did in one day was 110km, 241 days into the journey.

Nicknamed ‘Project Africa’, CoCook aimed to raise £1m (approximately 128 million) for The Running Charity and Sandblast.

He is no stranger to challenges and previously ran from Istanbul to London while he also holds the record for the fastest marathon while pulling a car.

Cook’s claim to be the first person to run the length of Africa has been challenged by the World Runners Association (WRA).

They state that Jesper Kenn Olsen from Denmark was the first person to run the length of Africa, running the 12,791km distance from Egypt to South Africa.

The counterargument is that Olsen’s journey wasn’t from the continent’s most northerly to southerly point.

Reporting by Athletics Weekly