#Project Africa is the title of the extreme challenge that Worthing's self-styled 'Hardest Geezer' Russell Cook is currently undertaking. The 26-year-old is attempting to become the first person in history to run the length of Africa without resting. In order to finish his quest by his target date of Christmas this year he will have to run the equivalent of 360 marathons in 240 days!

The total distance is around 15,000K passing through 16 countries and encountering some of the toughest environments on the planet. His fundraising target is £100,000 which will be split equally between The Running Charity – harnessing the power of running to help people experiencing homelessness or managing complex needs, and WaterAid – providing clean, safe water to those that need it most around the world, including many countries in Africa.

Russell Cook is open about his own past, with mental health, gambling, alcohol, and weight control issues but since he discovered endurance running, having completed his first half marathon aged 21, he hasn't looked back – except to admire the distance he has travelled!

His reputation as a tough guy has been forged through a series of crazy endurance challenges including dragging a car for a marathon distance on the South Coast and being buried alive for a week. In 2019 he ran 71 marathons in 66 days from Asia to London but #Project Africa is on a completely different level, as he explains in this brief video....

On his journey, Russell will travel through South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Senegal, Mauritania, Algeria, and Tunisia.

The toughest parts of the mission are likely to be the Congo rainforest during the rainy season and around 4,000 kilometres of the Sahara Desert, while the spectre of civil unrest and the possibility of dangerous wildlife will be ever-present.

Russell started his challenge on April 22 and he is accompanied by his friends Harry Gallimore and Stan Gaskell who will be filming and documenting the record attempt.

You can donate to his fundraising page at Give Star here.

Follow Russell's progress on Instagram here or on YouTube here.

Image courtesy Pixabay.