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 heโd imagined.
Russ Cook, aka the โHardest 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 continentโs highest mountain.
Getting the party started
He explained the rationale as follows: โOvercoming challenging adventures has massively changed my life. Theyโve 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.
โIโm absolutely buzzing that weโll 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]](https://run247.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Russ-Cook-completes-length-of-Africa-run-2024.jpg)
โMy head was spunโ
He said: โKilimanjaro 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.
โThought I was coming for a tikka masala, ended up getting served a vindaloo!
โTurns out a lack of oxygen in the air will make everything wonky. My head was spun from 5000m up.
โKind of like the worst nightclub youโve ever been to, but less drum and bass, more getting a screwdriver wedged in between your eyes.
โJokes 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.
โYou 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: โWhere should we take people on the next hardest adventure?โ Watch this spaceโฆ