'Could’ve been a lot worse': British man running length of Africa robbed at gunpoint

Russell Cook was robbed at gunpoint on day 64 of his attempt to run the length of Africa. Credit: Instagram/hardestgeezer

A British man has been robbed at gunpoint while attempting to become the first person to run the whole length of Africa - the equivalent of completing 360 marathons in 240 days.The 26-year-old said he and his team had cameras, phones, cash and passports stolen while in Angola on Saturday.

He said that he had been sat with members of his team "when a couple lads popped open the side door and demanded everything we have."He added: "Desperate blokes with guns pointed. Infamously bad situation to find yourself on the end of. Proper spot of bother. Damage limitation."

Back in May, Russell Cook gave ITV News Correspondent Geraint Vincent an update on his progress, as he attempts to become the first person to run the entire length of Africa

Writing on Instagram, the runner added: "None of us got killed or injured. We didn’t let them march us out the van. But we did lose a lot of our gear. Rough gig. But we live to tell the tale. Could’ve been a lot worse. Local police doing as much as they can to help. "The relentless nature of this mission is quite something. Problems from every angle. No respite. Till the bitter end."Mr Cook, nicknamed "Hardest Geezer", began his extreme running challenge at South Africa's most southerly point on April 22. He aims to finish at Tunisia's most northerly point by Christmas.

The route will cover 9,320 miles (14,500km) during the eight-month challenge, crossing 16 borders through cities, rainforests and a three-month stretch in the Sahara Desert.

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Russell started running in his native Worthing as a way out of the problems he was having with alcohol and gambling.

His marathons across Africa will raise money for charities concerned with mental health and the provision of clean water to places around the world, where they need it most.

It is not the first time that Mr Cook has experienced an attempted robbery while on his running mission.

In May, he told reporters that he had experienced a run-in with two would-be robbers but they were unable to keep up with his running pace so eventually gave up.

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