‘We’re looking at 10 Mt Everests in 10 weeks’ – Hardest Geezer reveals his next challenge

Russ Cook – also known as the ‘Hardest Geezer’ – has announced his next ultrarunning challenge.

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 over 352 days in 2023 and 2024 is now planning to clock up 3,000km in New Zealand.

That’s by covering the whole of the Te Araroa Trail in March, which will see him take on 60 ultramarathons back-to-back.

While the distance doesn’t come close to the 16,400km of his African epic, when he raised more than £1m for charity, the elevation most certainly does – with a total gain of 300,000ft (91,440m) to be negotiated.

‘Let’s do this’

The 27-year-old from Worthing has already climbed Mount Kilimanjaro this year but this is the equivalent of 15 Kilimanjaros – or 10 Mt Everests.

Announcing the adventure on his social channels, he said: “New Zealand, let’s do this.

“3,000km. 300,000 feet of elevation. 60 back to back ultra marathons.

“There will be highs, lows, and plenty of adventures to be had along the way!”

Calling New Zealand “the adventure capital of the world,” Cook added that during the challenge he is planning to bungee jump off Auckland Harbour Bridge, canyon swing in Queenstown and sky dive in Abel Tasman.

His New Zealand challenge is due to begin in March and is expected to take about 10 weeks to complete.

‘I couldn’t think of a better place to go’

Speaking to Sky News in the video embedded below, he explained: “It’s been a little while now since Africa so the cogs are turning again and we’re back out for another land mass. And New Zealand, I couldn’t think of a better place to go.

“Obviously we banked up quite a lot of mileage in Africa so the legs are well accustomed to that now but I’ve been doing a lot of training.

“There are a lot of things with this one that I’m not quite sure how it’s going to go; the elevation especially. We’re looking at about 10 Mt Everests of elevation gain in about 10 weeks.

“We’re not just going to be scaling mountains, we’ve got to go through rivers, forests, the trail is really diverse.”

And it’s also about immersing himself in the local communities as he added: “One of the things I really liked in Africa was getting to learn a lot about the culture and the different people.

“So with New Zealand, we’re going to really make an effort to get to learn about the Maori people and the indigenous culture.”