We could not possibly end our news coverage this week without paying tribute to 27-year-old HOKA-shod Russ Cook – Worthing's 'Hardest Geezer' – who has just completed #Project Africa, an incredible 352-day run from the southernmost tip of South Africa at Cape Agulhas to the northernmost point of Tunisia at Ras Angela.

We first met Russ in this runABC story when he was in the early stages of this seemingly impossible mission. We checked his progress following his Christmas Day report in this article in December 2023. The original plan was to complete the challenge by Christmas 2023, having run the equivalent of 360 marathons in 240 days and raising £1,000,000 for two charities – the Running Charity and Sandblast.

The journey began on April 22, 2023 and drew to its euphoric conclusion on April 7, 2024 with a dip in the sea and a strawberry daiquiri on the beach with his supporters – many of whom flew out to run the final stage – after averaging 28.7 miles a day for almost a year!

From the outset, Russ was realistic about the challenges he would face while travelling through 16 countries: South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Senegal, Mauritania, Algeria, and Tunisia.

Overcoming injury and illness was factored in, along with handling extremes of temperature and sandstorms that required the unusual tactic of running in swimming goggles! Getting robbed at gunpoint in Angola could not have been foreseen but it was paperwork that almost derailed the entire mission when there were visa complications in Algeria.

Several route adjustments had to be made, extending the total distance covered to 16,295km (10,125mls) – the equivalent of 386 marathons and around 19.1 million steps. In typically cryptic and understated fashion, Russ signed off his achievement on X with this post: 

"Ran Africa. Was proper hard. Got it done. Strawberry daiquiri secured. Gave my beautiful girlfriend a big kiss. Went absolutely potty to Soft Play at the afters. Back in the UK later."  

Soft Play is an English punk rock duo (formerly known as Slaves) who played a set at the #Project Africa after-party thrown by Russell to say thank you to his many supporters and charity donors. You can help Russ achieve his target by donating to his Givestar page here. 

There has been a huge reaction to #Project Africa and one man's mission to make the impossible possible. All we can say is Russ, you are the Hardest Geezer, get yourself to Greggs! The man of the moment did confess to a craving for freshly baked goods on his journey and if anyone deserves a rest and recharge before the next mission, he does!

Photo courtesy Russ Cook via X, formerly Twitter