Brit running length of Africa ‘feared being eaten in gulag’ after kidnapping

The British man attempting to run the length of Africa in just 240 days was kidnapped and feared being eaten.

Russell Cook, 26, who goes by 'Hardest Geezer' online, has been keeping thousands of followers up to date as he tries to become the first person to run the entire length of Africa.

Russ started his gargantuan trip in South Africa and is hoping to reach the most northerly point in Tunisia by Christmas.

READ MORE: Bloke running length of Africa mugged by fella called 'Saddam Hussein' who wanted £2

On Sunday (August 6), day 107 of his run, he took to X to reveal "the last few days have probably been some of the toughest of my life".

Russ said that on day 102 he was separated from his support team in the Democratic Republic of the Congo due to "impassable roads in the planned route".

Whilst trying to find them in a village on the plan B route he "stumbled into a rural settlement". This is when things took a terrifying turn.

Russ explained: "The chief told me I must give him money. I had none. So that went down well. Pretty soon I found myself surrounded by lots of game blokes with machetes.

"Was escorted out the village into the bush. Mind was racing. I’ve heard the horror stories. Thought I might be about to become one.

"Emptied my bag to show I had nothing but a half eaten biscuit. Gave it to them, and ran."

After the daring escape Russ spent hours making his way through the jungle, trying to stay away from used tracks. He eventually made it to the village where he planned to meet the support crew but found "the road was also impassable for the support van again".

"I started heading back to the last known place with passable roads when 2 blokes pulled up on a motorbike. They spoke no English but tried to communicate I must come with them to get back to my friends," Russ wrote.

"As you can imagine, I was extremely reluctant. I also had no money, food, water, signal, data, or knowledge of where the boys were.

"So I decided my best bet was to trust that the boys had sent these guys to bring me to them."

The men took him on a seven hour motorbike ride "deeper into the jungle". "In my head I thought this was it. Me. The self proclaimed hardest geezer. About to get held in a Congo gulag before being ripped apart limb by limb and eaten."

Russ said they reached another village late in the evening where he was taken into a hut while "lots of men argued about what to do with me and talked about how much money I owe them".

Luckily, he managed to "iron things out" when an acting chief who spoke some English arrived. The support crew then spent days planning how to reach him and bring money for the locals.

Russ added: "We made it out. And travelled back to the start point of day 102, where I ran 60km today on our new route. My head ain’t fully there right now. But we move the same way as always, forward."

It comes after Russ was robbed at gunpoint in Namibia back in July. He has been raising money for the Running Charity and WaterAid throughout his journey.

You can donate on his Give Star page here. So far he has raised more than £45,000.

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