Sore and sandblasted however triumphant, runner Russ Cook dinner reached the northernmost level of Africa on Sunday, nearly a 12 months after he set off from its southern tip on a quest to run the size of the continent.
Dozens of supporters gathered on a rocky outcrop beside the Mediterranean in northern Tunisia, cheering on the British charity fundraiser, who has run greater than 16,000km (10,000 miles) throughout 16 international locations in 352 days.
“I’m a little bit bit drained,” Cook dinner stated – possible an understatement.
Throughout his journey, the 27-year-old endurance athlete from Worthing in southern England crossed jungle and desert, swerved battle zones and was delayed by theft, harm and visa issues.
Cook dinner – identified on social media by his nickname, Hardest Geezer – set off on April 22, 2023 from Cape Agulhas in South Africa, the continent’s southernmost level. He hoped to finish the journey in 240 days, working the equal of greater than a marathon day by day.
He and his staff had cash, passports and tools stolen in a gunpoint theft in Angola. He was briefly halted by again ache in Nigeria. And he was nearly stopped in his tracks by the shortage of a visa to enter Algeria, earlier than diplomatic intervention from the Algerian embassy in Britain managed to safe the required paperwork.
Cook dinner, who has spoken about how working helped him take care of his personal psychological well being struggles, beforehand ran about 3,000km (2,000 miles) from Istanbul, Turkey to Worthing in 68 days.
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British endurance athlete runs the size of Africa in below a 12 months
British endurance athlete runs the size of Africa in below a 12 months
His African run has raised greater than £690,000 (US$870,000) for the Operating Charity, which works with homeless younger folks, and Sandblast, a charity that helps displaced folks from Western Sahara.
“It’s fairly onerous to place into phrases, 352 days on the highway, very long time with out seeing household, my girlfriend,” Cook dinner informed Sky Information as he began working on Sunday, accompanied by supporters who had come from far and large to run the ultimate stretch with him. “My physique is in quite a lot of ache. However another day, I’m not about to complain.”
Cook dinner stated he deliberate to rejoice with a celebration, the place British band Delicate Play had been anticipated to carry out.
“We’re going to have strawberry daiquiris on the seashore tonight,” he stated. “It’s going to be unreal.”
