Russ Cook, a 27-year-old United Kingdom man ran the length of Africa in 352 days. Photo: AP
Sore and sandblasted but triumphant, runner Russ Cook reached the northernmost point of Africa on Sunday, almost a year after he set off from its southern tip on a quest to run the length 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 more than 16,000 kilometres across 16 countries in 352 days.
"I'm a little bit tired," Cook said – likely an understatement.
In the course of his journey the 27-year-old endurance athlete from Worthing in southern England crossed jungle and desert, swerved conflict zones and was delayed by theft, injury and visa problems.
Cook – known on social media by his nickname, Hardest Geezer – set off on April 22, 2023, from Cape Agulhas in South Africa, the continent’s southernmost point. He hoped to complete the journey in 240 days, running the equivalent of more than a marathon every day.
He and his team had money, passports and equipment stolen in a gunpoint robbery in Angola. He was temporarily halted by back pain in Nigeria. He was almost stopped in his tracks by the lack of a visa to enter Algeria before diplomatic intervention from the Algerian embassy in Britain managed to secure the required documents.
Cook, who has spoken about how running helped him deal with his mental health struggles, previously ran about 3,000 kilometres from Istanbul to Worthing in 68 days.
His African run has raised more than 690,000 pounds (US$870,000) for the Running Charity, which works with homeless young people, and Sandblast, a charity that helps displaced people from Western Sahara.
"It’s quite hard to put into words, 352 days on the road, long time without seeing family, my girlfriend," Cook told Sky News as he started running on Sunday, accompanied by supporters who’d come from far and wide to run the final stretch with him. "My body is in a lot of pain. But one more day, I’m not about to complain."
Cook said he planned to celebrate with a party, where British band Soft Play was due to perform.
"We’re going to have strawberry daiquiris on the beach tonight," he said. "It’s going to be unreal."
英國男子352天跑完非洲大陸10,000英里
跑者拉斯庫克 (Russ Cook) 渾身酸痛、全身被噴砂，但他在周日抵達非洲最北端，距離他從非洲最南端出發，尋求跑遍非洲大陸已近一年。
數十名支持者聚集在突尼斯北部地中海沿岸的一塊岩石上，為英國慈善籌款活動歡呼，該活動在 352 天內橫跨 16 個國家，跑了超過 16,000 公里。
「我有點累了，」庫克說——這可能是輕描淡寫的說法。
這位來自英格蘭南部沃辛的 27 歲耐力運動員在旅途中穿越了叢林和沙漠，繞過了衝突地區，並因盜竊、受傷和簽證問題而延誤了行程。
庫克在社交媒體上被暱稱為“最難的老頭”，於 2023 年 4 月 22 日從非洲大陸最南端南非厄加勒斯角出發。 他希望在240天內完成這趟旅程，相當於每天跑一場馬拉松。
他和他的團隊在安哥拉的一次持槍搶劫中被盜了金錢、護照和設備。 他在尼日利亞因背部疼痛而暫時停止比賽。 在阿爾及利亞駐英國大使館的外交幹預設法獲得所需文件之前，他幾乎因缺乏進入阿爾及利亞的簽證而被阻止。
庫克曾談到跑步如何幫助他應對自己的心理健康問題，此前他在 68 天內從伊斯坦堡跑了約 3,000 公里到沃辛。
他的非洲跑步活動已為幫助無家可歸的年輕人的跑步慈善機構和幫助西撒哈拉流離失所者的慈善機構 Sandblast 籌集了超過 69 萬英鎊（87 萬美元）。
「這很難用語言來形容，352天都在路上，很長一段時間沒有見到家人和我的女朋友，」庫克在周日開始跑步時告訴天空新聞，陪同的還有來自四面八方的支持者。
和他一起做最後的衝刺。 “我的身體很痛苦。但有一天，我不會抱怨。”
庫克表示，他計劃舉辦一場派對來慶祝，英國樂團 Soft Play 將在派對上表演。
「今晚我們要在海灘上喝草莓代基里酒，」他說。 “這將是不真實的。”
Source: AP
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