Who is the Hardest Geezer?
Russ Cook - commonly known by his Instagram handle: The Hardest Geezer.
This title was not merely chosen, it was earned after his earlier remarkable challenges like burying himself alive, and being the FIRST person to run from Asia to London solo and unassisted!
The 26 year old geezer from Worthing made the leap to the most extreme ultra-running after a friend challenged him to do the Brighton Half Marathon.
Having owned a cleaning business before and consistently doing charitable work Russ was up for a bigger challenge!
Hardest Geezer Kidnapped?!
The PerfectTed Operations team were in communication with Russ' team, trying to organise his next care package of energy drinks when we received a reply from Harry:
"Myself and Jarred have a rescue mission as Russ is stuck in the rainforest with no food/water or phone battery...pure chaos".
After 24 hours of radio silence, we had an update: "Made it back through the jungle after 20+ hrs of driving, broke a 4x4 and got extorted by a colonel of the provincial police but we're all good now"
The sense of relief was immediate.
But, we didn't know the extent of his capture and the literal knife-edge experience he had.
As described in his 6th August 2023 Instagram update:
"I found myself surrounded by lots of game blokes with machetes...Mind was racing. I've heard the horror stories".
What is Project Africa?
To put it simply, Russ Cook is running the length of Africa.
Simple right? Just 9,320 miles... 1394 miles MORA than the diameter or Earth.
Put that into the trusty football pitch measurement = 149,125 pitches - nothing...RIGHT?!
This man is remarkable!
Starting out with 1 support vehicle and 3 strangers, the mission started with no idea what it was going to evolve into.
So, let's get you up to speed on the 238 days of running he has done thus far:
- Raised over £100k for The Running Charity
- Robbed at gunpoint in Namibia - survived!
- Filmed and posted content almost every day.
- Got various infections, injuries and illnesses - survived!
- Over 300 cans of PerfectTed drunk!
And this guy just keeps on running!
With various injury and visa setbacks the original 240 day goal will be missed but what else would he want than to spend his Christmas in the Ivory Coast, Guinea, and Senegal... who knows?!
Why is Russ running over a marathon a day for 238 days and counting?
Russ if raising money for The Running Charity who are "harnessing the power or running to help people experiencing homelessness or managing complex needs."
This is a cause that he has worked with and for before allowing his passion for running to build a community outside of his remarkable Instagram and YouTube following.
If you still can't picture such a remarkable human being watch our 73 Questions with Russ Cook, aka The Hardest Geezer here.
If you're not impressed enough yet he hasn't cut his beard through all the heat and hurdles throughout the journey thus far. And he won't be until the finish line in Tunisia.