16 countries, 352 days and 16,400 kilometres later, Russ Cook truly earned his title as the Hardest Geezer on the 7th of April. The 27-year-old from Worthing in West Sussex said he wanted to make a difference and therefore decided to complete 360 marathons in 240 days. However, due to a lack of an Algerian visa, he was halted. Cook raised a total of £700,000 for charity once he had completed his run, and was greeted by crowds chanting “geezer” in Ras Angela, Tunisia. After crossing the finish line, Cook told reporters that he was “pretty tired” and proudly stated to his followers “Mission completed.”
After completing South Africa and Namibia in 50 days, Cook was faced with a serious setback. He and his support team had many valuables including their passports and visas, despite this the ultrarunner still continued his epic journey.
Cook also faced health complications, as running more than a marathon a day began to have a serious effect on his body. What started out simply as tummy aches, became more problematic health issues as doctors found blood and protein in his urine. He also suffered recurring back pain which was his biggest concern. On day 200, a doctor in Nigeria advised Cook to reduce his daily mileage and intensity, and even missed running completely on 205 and 206. However, in true Hardest Geezer fashion of course, this did not stop him. He said that due to their being no bone damage, he had to “stop mincing about like a little weasel, get the strongest painkillers available and zombie stomp road again.”
Cook faced yet another setback as he waited to cross the boarder from Mauritania into Algeria. At the time he said “if we don’t get the visas, then it is game over”. His video caught the attention of 11 million people on X, including Elon Musk and the UK Home Office. This huge amount of attention helped Cooked greatly, as the UK’s Algerian embassy provided him with a courtesy visa immediately.
After these multiple setbacks, the final task Cook had to complete was the Sahara Desert. With no more tarmac roads or signs of civilisation, Cook set foot in the Sahara and the final length of his ultrarun, the finish date planned to be the 7th of April. In order to avoid daytime heat and possible sandstorms, he decided to run through the night and up his mileage to catch up on lost time.
Finally, on the last marathon of his incredible run, Cook prepared to run to Tunisia’s most northernly point. He was joined by many supporters from all over the world and once he crossed the finish line was greeted with one hell of a party with a performance from the British punk band Soft Play at a hotel in Bizerte.