‘Hardest Geezer’ sets off on final day of running length of Africa after robbery ordeal and going missing in jungle
A British man running the length of Africa has set off on his final day of the gruelling challenge in Tunisia.
Russ Cook, who calls himself “Hardest Geezer” on social media, has been running for more than 350 days and completed the equivalent of 385 marathons.
The 26-year-old, from Worthing, West Sussex, is now running the final 40km of the 16,000km challenge and has been joined by hundreds of supporters.
“One more day, one final push to get this thing done,” he said to Sky News shortly after setting off, with sports correspondent Rob Harris trying to keep up.
Mr Cook said he’d had a “few tears” this morning but had got it out of his system.
“352 days on the road is a long time without seeing family, my girlfriend. My body is in a lot of pain but I’ve only got one day, I’m not about to complain.”
He says he will become the first person to run the full of length of Africa if he completes the challenge.
He began his journey at Cape Agulhas, South Africa – the southernmost point of the African continent – in April 2023.
Russ Cook’s route across Africa
Mr Cook has been raising money for two charities along the way and has recently seen a surge in donations.
In the last seven days, he has raised more than £217,000 of his £568,000 total.
He is fundraising for The Running Charity, which supports the mental health of young people with complex needs or who are homeless, and Sandblast which educates people about Sahrawi culture.
But his journey hasn’t always been smooth.
In Angola, he and his team were robbed at gunpoint. They had cameras, phones and passports stolen.
Russ Cook on the final leg of running the length of Africa. Pic: HardestGeezer/X
Then in August, Mr Cook went missing. He was separated from his supporters for days in the jungle in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
They eventually managed to free him by paying off villagers who were armed with machetes.
And in January, he turned to social media to help get a visa to cross the border from Mauritania into Algeria.
Russ Cook is attempting to run the length of Africa. Pic: HardestGeezer/Instagram
At the time, he said his challenge could end without the visa as there was “no other way” for him to reach the northern tip of Africa.
“It is all hanging in the balance, to be honest,” he posted.
After a huge social media campaign, the Algerian Embassy said it would grant him a courtesy visa “on the spot”, meaning he could cross the border.
Although the run across Africa is his biggest challenge, it isn’t his first.
At 22, Mr Cook ran from Asia to England, completing 71 marathons in 66 days.
He had only run the Brighton Marathon before he decided to run from Asia to England.
UK
‘I was told this was a wonder drug but not warned about the deathly consequences’: 100 faces of infected blood scandal
“Losing Gary, my soul mate, was beyond painful,” says Kathryn Croucher, whose husband died aged 42 in 2010.
“Every day was a struggle dealing with the knowledge he was HIV and Hepatitis C positive.”
“Mum always said she was given a death sentence,” recalls Ronan Fitzgerald. His mother, Jane, died aged 54 after being infected with Hepatitis C when she was 16. “It was a ticking time bomb.”
Updates:
Scandal was ‘not an accident’
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The faces of the infected blood scandal.
More than 30,000 Britons were infected with HIV and Hepatitis C after being given contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s.
Around 3,000 people have died as a result of the scandal, while many more still live under the shadow of health problems, debilitating treatments and stigma. Now, the findings of a public inquiry, first announced in 2017, will finally be published.
These are 100 faces of infected blood victims that either they, or their families, have shared with Sky News.
Click the images to read their stories.
Sky News will have full coverage of the infected blood report on TV, online and on the Sky News app today.
Sky News would like to thank everyone who contributed to this project.
Julian Assange will be allowed to appeal against his extradition to the United States.
Two judges responded today to US assurances that Mr Assange will not face the death penalty – and can rely on the First Amendment right to free speech if he faced a trial for spying.
The WikiLeaks founder faces prosecution in the US over an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information after the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in 2017. Pic: Reuters
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in a police van after being arrested in London in 2019. Pic: Reuters
Edward Fitzgerald KC, representing Assange, criticised the assurances of Joe Biden’s US administration at the hearing. He said: “Based on the principle of the separation of powers, the US court can and will apply US law, whatever the executive may say or do.”
He added most of the promises were “blatantly inadequate” – but they had accepted the promise about the death penalty.
In written submissions, the barrister said while the assurance over the death penalty was “an unambiguous executive promise”, the other assurance does not give “any reliable promise as to future action”.
The barrister added: “What needs to be conclusively removed is the risk that he will be prevented from relying on the first amendment on grounds of nationality.”
But James Lewis KC, representing the US government, insisted the “judicial branch of the United States will take due notice of this solemn assurance given by its government in the course of international relations”.
In written submissions, he said there is “no question” that Assange, if extradited, “will be entitled to the full panoply of due process trial rights, including the right to raise, and seek to rely upon, the first amendment as a defence”.
He later told the court: “The assurance does make it clear that he will not be discriminated against because of his nationality.
“He can and will be able to raise all those arguments and his nationality will not prejudice a fair trial.”
Today’s decision is the latest chapter in 13 years of legal battles and detentions for Australian-born Mr Assange.
Supporters of Mr Assange have been gathering outside the High Court. Pic: Reuters
Pic: Reuters
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The US authorities want to put Mr Assange on trial over 18 charges, nearly all under the Espionage Act.
They claim his actions with WikiLeaks were reckless, damaged national security, and endangered the lives of agents.
During a two-day hearing in February, lawyers for Mr Assange asked for permission to challenge a judge’s dismissal of the majority of his case to prevent his extradition.
In March, Dame Victoria Sharp and Mr Justice Johnson dismissed most of Mr Assange’s legal arguments – but said unless assurances were given by the US, he would be able to bring an appeal on three grounds.
These assurances are that Assange would be protected by and allowed to rely on the First Amendment – which protects freedom of speech in the US – that he is not “prejudiced at trial” due to his nationality, and that the death penalty is not imposed.
Pic: Reuters
Pic: Reuters
Supporters of Mr Assange have already been gathering outside the High Court to continue their calls for his release.
Mr Assange is currently being held in London’s high security Belmarsh prison.
Detectives are on the hunt for two men following a fatal stabbing in Glasgow at the weekend.
Police Scotland said the force received a report of a man being attacked and stabbed in Saracen Street, Possil, at around 5pm on Saturday.
Emergency services attended and took the 27-year-old victim to the city’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, where he later died.
The death is being treated as “suspicious” ahead of the completion of a post-mortem examination.
Investigating officers have since established that two men were involved in the attack.
The suspects have been described as white and in their 30s.
One was wearing a light-blue top and black shorts, while the other was dressed in a white top, black shorts and black trainers.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Officers have been gathering and reviewing CCTV footage from in and around the neighbourhood as the probe continues.
Additional patrols have also been mobilised to the area, and anyone with information or concerns can approach these officers.
Read more from Sky News:
The stories behind 100 victims of infected blood scandal
Probe launched after man dies in police custody
Detective Inspector Lesley-Ann McGee said: “It was a warm, sunny day and there were lots of people out enjoying the weather in Saracen.
“I am asking them to get in touch with us with any information that could assist us in establishing the motive for this attack. If you saw, heard or know anything please contact us.
“I’m also asking people with dashcam or doorbell recording equipment to check for any footage that could assist our investigation.
“A family is mourning the loss of a loved one and it’s imperative we are able to answer how their loved one died.”
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