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RUN247 / Running News / Mountain Running News / โ€˜Like the worst nightclub youโ€™ve ever been toโ€™ โ€“ Hardest Geezer on conquering Kilimanjaro

โ€˜Like the worst nightclub youโ€™ve ever been toโ€™ โ€“ Hardest Geezer on conquering Kilimanjaro

Jonathan Turner
News Director
Published on

The man who overcame an armed robbery, visa issues and health scares as he rewrote the record books by running the entire length of Africa has admitted that climbing Mount Kilimanjaro proved a far greater challenge than heโ€™d imagined.

Russ Cook, aka the โ€˜Hardest Geezerโ€™, covered more than 16,000 kilometres over 352 days through 16 different countries on his epic African adventure during 2023 and 2024.

And on the back of that he launched a new project to allow others to undertake some epic adventures, starting with a return to Africa to climb the continentโ€™s highest mountain.

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Getting the party started

He explained the rationale as follows: โ€œOvercoming challenging adventures has massively changed my life. Theyโ€™ve allowed me to connect with amazing people, see the immense beauty in this world, and figure out a few things about myself too. I want to try and support that adventure in as many of you lot as possible.

โ€œIโ€™m absolutely buzzing that weโ€™ll be taking a group of you up Mount Kilimanjaro to get the party started. There will be plenty more to come after this as well.โ€

And that first group have just made it to the top โ€“ at 5,895 metres โ€“ but writing on his social channels, Cook admitted it was way harder than he expected.

Russ Cook completes his epic run across the entire length of Africa [Photo credit: The Snapshot People Ltd]
Russ Cook celebrates the end of his African odyssey [Photo credit: The Snapshot People Ltd]

โ€˜My head was spunโ€™

He said: โ€œKilimanjaro baby. What a cracker. To be honest with you, I was expecting a light one before I came out here. A gentle tickle up a big hill.

โ€œThought I was coming for a tikka masala, ended up getting served a vindaloo!

โ€œTurns out a lack of oxygen in the air will make everything wonky. My head was spun from 5000m up.

โ€œKind of like the worst nightclub youโ€™ve ever been to, but less drum and bass, more getting a screwdriver wedged in between your eyes.

โ€œJokes aside, I am so massively proud of the team. Between us we shared heavy moments of doubt, tears and major fatigue, but all of you had your own stories and reasons for being here and when it came to really dig in and find something, you found it.

โ€œYou did yourselves and your families proud. A special mention to our incredible team of guides and porters as well. The wisdom, strength and care they showed for us was incredible. They are the real heroes of this mountain.โ€

He rounded it off by adding: โ€œWhere should we take people on the next hardest adventure?โ€ Watch this spaceโ€ฆ

Jonathan Turner
Written by
Jonathan Turner
Jonathan Turner is News Director for both TRI247 and RUN247, and is accustomed to big-name interviews, breaking news stories and providing unrivalled coverage for endurance sports.  

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