A row has erupted over ‘Hardest Geezer’ Russ Cook’s ‘record breaking’ run across Africa.
The 27-year-old Briton completed his epic 10,100-mile-run from South Africa to Tunisia after 352 days on Sunday (07.04.24) but his claims of being the first person ever to run the full length of Africa have been questioned by a small international sporting body which argues that the feat was actually completed 14 years ago.
The World Runners Association (WRA) – which consists of only seven members – claims that Danish athlete Jesper Olsen ran the length of Africa in 2010 when he covered 7,949 miles from Egypt to South Africa as part of an ultramarathon challenge in which he ran across the world.
The organisation’s president Phil Essam told The Daily Telegraph newspaper: “The WRA recognises Mr Jesper Kenn Olsen of Denmark as the first person to have run the full length of Africa.
“The World Runners Association therefore contests the claim made by British national Mr Russ Cook to be the first person to run the length of Africa.”