After 16,000km, 352 days and being kidnapped within the Congo, England’s Russ Cook dinner achieved the unthinkable in early April, changing into the primary particular person to run all the size of Africa.
Cook dinner began his odyssey at Africa’s most southerly level, the South African village of L’Agulhas, operating up the west coast for greater than 16,000km.
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For the report, that’s a median of greater than 45km per day — or greater than a marathon per day.
The monumental distance can be equal to 385 marathons.
Simply in need of a full yr later, the 27-year-old previous from Sussex crossed the end line in Ras Angela in Tunisia on April 7.
Whereas he had hoped to finish the journey in 240 days, he had a number of setbacks, together with being robbed at gunpoint in Angola, again ache in Nigeria and a visa subject to enter Algeria in addition to bouts of meals poisoning.
He additionally raised greater than £1m ($A1.9m) for charity.
However regardless of all he was in a position to obtain and all of the adversity he overcame, Cook dinner wasn’t in a position to break the tape at his personal end line after a Tunisian man crossed the road first.
Cook dinner was accompanied by an enormous group of supporters on the ultimate leg of the epic journey however the man carrying a yellow shirt and carrying a Tunisian flag ran throughout the road in entrance of him.
Talking to The Fellas podcast this week, Cook dinner, who is called the “Hardest Geezer” for his efforts, was requested concerning the man who stole his second.
“I did say … we obtained to the final 100 metres and I mentioned ‘let me go, let me go, let me go’.“I don’t know if he simply didn’t hear me, I don’t know.”
Watching the second once more, he couldn’t assist however snort, saying “that was mad”.
One of many hosts joked: “350 days after which this man smokes you bro!”
The opposite host tried to defend the person, saying he might not have appreciated the magnitude of what Cook dinner had achieved.
Cook dinner replied: “The one annoying factor … I didn’t actually care on the time. I didn’t actually understand it occurred.
“Simply watching it again, it’s like ‘mate – we’ve obtained a documentary we’re making, how are we going to chop that out?’”
The hosts prompt possibly they could must CGI him out of the documentary.
Cook dinner completed: “He’s a Tunisian man clearly, he’s most likely simply pleased with nation and desires to verify Tunisia is represented on the end line.
“However he went somewhat bit far with it.”
Cook dinner additionally opened up on essentially the most harmful a part of his run, when he was kidnapped within the Congo by a gang armed with machetes.
“It was very emotional to be sincere — mainly I believed I used to be going to die on a few events that day,” Cook dinner mentioned.
Having reached 100,000 subscribers on YouTube, Cook dinner was going to run 100km on the day.
He wound up operating out of water, break up up from his crew as they couldn’t observe the identical path.
He ended up operating via a village the place they tried to extort him for cash.
“They ended up making an attempt to get cash out of me after which walked me out into the bush, two guys with machete,” he mentioned.
“I used to be s**tting myself unhealthy. After which emptied my bag — had nothing however biscuits — gave my biscuits and legged it.
“I used to be operating via the jungle after which two guys on a bike got here and had been making an attempt to speak … they had been making an attempt to take me to my associates. I don’t know if that is true, usually the boys would ship a not after they had been sending folks for me, however I’d run like 50k’s, I had no water and was actually dehydrated, I used to be actually starvation, my cellphone had no sign — I’ve form of obtained no alternative. Both it’s this or I’m tenting within the jungle in a single day and that’s most likely not a good suggestion.”
He went with the boys and hope advised himself “if I’m not again with the boys in like half an hour, then I do know it’s unhealthy information”.
He was on the bike for seven hours and ended up in a rural village the place they once more tried to extort cash out of them.
