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9,941 miles in 352 days: Russ Cook Completes Run Across Africa For Charity

By Kyle Merber

April 10, 2024

9,941 miles in 352 days: an average of over 28 miles per day. That’s what Russ Cook, who is affectionately and appropriately known as the “Hardest Geezer,” did to become the first person to run across the length of Africa from South Africa to Tunisia. The dude is a badass.

The British man raised over £600,000 for charity and inspired countless supporters in the process, despite being robbed at gunpoint, going missing, and battling visa issues all while still having to… well… run almost 10,000 miles.

All that, only to get to the other side of the challenge and be told that someone else is claiming to have done it first! Imagine Roger Bannister waking up the day after breaking four minutes in the mile and raging all night long over the fact that someone else had actually already done it 14 years earlier. This is why it is so important to log your runs on Strava (like Russ)!

Obviously this is an insane accomplishment and it’s not necessarily about whether or not Russ was actually first to do it or not. If you’re on the moon, you’re probably not terribly upset that Neil Armstrong was there first, right? You’re on the freakin’ moon!

But if we were really interested in making this accomplishment into even more of a competition, then you gotta assume Eliud Kipchoge would put this record out of reach. That sort of daily mileage isn’t that much more than what he’s doing. And beyond fitness or pace, Kipchoge won’t run into some of those logistical hurdles that bled the clock. Everyone knows Kipchoge and he DEFINITELY does not need to start a social media campaign to get a visa.

Kyle Merber

After hanging up his spikes – but never his running shoes – Kyle pivoted to the media side of things, where he shares his enthusiasm, insights, and experiences with subscribers of The Lap Count newsletter, as well as viewers of CITIUS MAG live shows.