Russell Cook: The man who ran the full length of Africa

Russell ran into plenty of difficulties on his mega challenge

A British man has run the full length of the continent of Africa, raising nearly £800,000 for charity.

The runner, Russell Cook, is thought to have run more than 10,000 miles (16,094km) in just 352 days!

To give you an idea of just how far that is, it's equivalent to running the length of the UK from John O'Groats to Lands End 16 and a half times!

Russell completed the challenge in the north African country Tunisia, having run through 16 countries in total.

Read on to find out how he did it.

Russell completed his challenge after 352 days

Russell set off on his challenge from his home in February 2023 and said he wanted to "make a difference".

He said he hoped that in the future he could look back at his life and have no regrets.

At he had decided to run from the north to the south of Africa, but he ended up reversing his journey to go from south to north.

This was because he had problems getting official permission to enter certain countries.

Russell ran at night to avoid the heat of the Sahara Desert

Russell's journey took him through cities, rainforests, mountains and even the Sahara Desert!

He ran a marathon - 26.2 miles (42.2km) - or more each day which he says pushed his body to the limit.

As a result of covering very long distances in all kinds of environments, he did face several challenges including injuries.

But finally, on Sunday 7 April, Russell laced up his trainers one last time.

He was joined by supporters from around the world as he finished his final marathon and completed the challenge.

Unsurprisingly, he said he was "pretty tired" as he completed his final run after a gruelling 352 days.

What do you think of Russell's run? Could you imagine a year running such long distances?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments.