Russ Cook (Hardest Geezer): I Haven't Told The Whole Truth About Africa!, They Took Me Into The Jungle To Kill Me!

The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett

What does it take to become the Hardest Geezer and run 9,940-miles in 352 days?

Russ Cook, also known as the ‘Hardest Geezer’, is an ultra-endurance athlete and the first person to run the entire length of Africa, raising over £1 million for charity. He is also the first person to run from Asia to London.

In this conversation Russ and Steven discuss topics such as, his childhood and difficult teenage years, hitting rock bottom, wanting more from life, being robbed at gun point, and the struggles of being the first man to run across the length Africa.

00:00 Intro

02:00 Russ' Childhood & Being Rebellious

05:50 Relationship With My Parents

12:00 Trying To Get People’s Attention

16:42 Distancing Himself from Family

16:22 The Impact of Russ' Girlfriend

19:11 Moving Out as a Teenager

21:02 Going Down the Wrong Path

25:10 Russ' Mental Health

26:18 What Would Russ Say to His Younger Self

30:52 Russ' Epiphany

32:09 The Feeling of Progressing in Life

35:07 Travelling the World Running

35:53 First Challenges

36:51 Doing Things That Aren’t Considered Normal

39:03 Returning from the First Trip

42:26 Relationship with His Dad

44:09 Burying Himself Alive

44:33 Russ DM’d Steven Before Going To Africa

46:40 Why Africa?

48:40 Meeting His Girlfriend Before Leaving to Africa

52:41 How Have You Changed

54:52 Preparations to Run the Entire Length of Africa

01:03:25 Getting Robbed

01:03:26 Being Kidnapped

01:10:05 Facing Death

01:24:14 Team Struggles

01:31:52 Was Quitting an Option?

01:36:18 Visa Issues

01:37:59 Nearing the End

01:45:12 Crossing the Line

01:45:44 What’s Next?

01:50:41 What Was the Goal?

01:55:36 Russ Inspiring Others

01:59:20 The Last Guest Question

You can donate to Russ’s charity fundraiser here: https://bit.ly/3Wr2WJR

Follow Russ:

Instagram - https://bit.ly/4djAL5I

Twitter - https://bit.ly/3UFqZmV

YouTube - https://bit.ly/3Up8YYH

Watch the episodes on Youtube - https://g2ul0.app.link/3kxINCANKsb

My new book! 'The 33 Laws Of Business & Life' is out now - https://smarturl.it/DOACbook

Follow me:

https://beacons.ai/diaryofaceo

Sponsors:

PerfectTed: bit.ly/PerfectTed-DOAC with an exclusive code DIARY10 for 10% off

PerfectTed x Hardest Geezer - Strawberry Daiquiri Flavour: bit.ly/PerfectTed-HardestGeezer-Daiquiri-DOAC (all profits to charity)

Uber: https://p.uber.com/creditsterms

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