The British runner Russ Cook, also known as the Hardest Geezer, has so far raised more than £803,000 for two charities after running the length of Africa.
Cook completed his 352-day ‘Project Africa’ challenge to fundraise for Sandblast, a charity that helps displaced people in the Western Sahara, and The Running Charity.
The 27-year-old from Worthing, West Sussex, ran from South Africa through 16 countries on the west side of the continent, covering 16,300km in 352 days before reaching his finishing line in Tunisia on 7 April.
Speaking to Good Morning Britain this morning, Cook said completing the challenge was “quite overwhelming”.
He said: “There were so many times where I was joined by groups of people running, which is always amazing.
“The energy of a group of people running together you just can’t beat.”
Cook set off last February and took on different terrains including deserts, mountains and rainforests to complete the equivalent of 385 marathons.
At different points, Cook was subjected to armed robbery, faced visa issues that almost derailed his challenge, and was forced to take rest days because of back problems.
Cook said: “I remember plenty of times running alone in the desert at night, sandstorms beating me up pretty good and having the music on in the ears screaming my lungs out.
“It’s quite hard to contemplate the whole thing at the moment.”
Alex Eagle, co-founder and chief executive of The Running Charity, commended Cook for the accomplishment.
Speaking on X, Eagle said: “So proud of Russ the @hardestgeezer, so humble, so kind hearted, just an amazing human being showing us all what we can achieve when we put one foot in front of the next.”