Hardest Geezer’s Book Launch

Endurance athlete Russ Cook, known as Hardest Geezer, publishes his memoir and the story of becoming the first person to run the length of Africa. The book has been published under Steven Bartlett’s newly launched publishing venture in partnership with Ebury, Flight Books.

‘Hardest Geezer: Becoming the First Person to Run the Entire Length of Africa’ is today releasing on 24th October 2024 in hardback, audio and ebook. 

Worthing-born Russ Cook became the first person to run the full length of Africa in an ultra-marathon that covered over 10,000 miles (the equivalent of 386 marathons), travelling through 16 countries from South Africa to Tunisia and taking 352 days. Along the way, Russ was the victim of an attempted kidnap, held at knifepoint in an armed robbery and refused passage through Algeria, but kept running every day. He made his way through sandstorms in the Sahara, over mountain ranges and through rainforests and during the course of the challenge, which he completed on 7th April 2024, he raised over £1 million for charity. 

The relationship between Steven and Russ began when just one week into his Africa challenge, Russ’ journey started gaining more traction across social media and his latest updates appeared on Steven’s feed. Steven started to explore the profile of the endurance athlete where he discovered Russ’ unbelievable past achievements including a record-breaking fastest car-pulling marathon, burying himself alive for 7 days and streaming it, as well as an endurance run through Asia. Following a series of messages as Russ was tackling the first leg of his Africa run, a true bond was cemented between the two. 

In Hardest Geezer Russ shares his life story, including his motivation to take on such extreme challenges. Woven through the anecdotes of his adventures he offers inspirational lessons on endurance, survival and motivation. 

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