A British man’s claim to be the first person to run across Africa has been disputed by a Danish man who claims he beat him 14 years ago.
Russ Cook, Worthing, West Sussex ended his 352 days of hard running Sunday’s flight from South Africa to Tunisia covers a walking distance of nearly 16,000 kilometers (9,941 miles).
But Danish ultrarunner Jesper Kenn Olsen, 52, says the “hardest old man” is wrong to claim he was the first to run across the continent in 2010 Completed a similar journey.
As a member of the World Runners Association (WRA), Mr. Olson ran from Taba, Egypt, to the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa.
He set off on December 28, 2008, ran nearly 13,000 kilometers (7,948 miles) over 434 days, and completed the race in March 2010.
The British traveled all over Africa
While Olson was full of praise for Cook’s “incredible accomplishments,” he added that “it’s more about getting the facts straight.”
“For me, it doesn’t matter if I’m first or second or what have you, because obviously, the most important thing for us is running around the world,” the runner said.
“Keeping honor is more important than first, second or third place. However, as far as I know, he is definitely the fastest.”
Jesper Kenn Olsen traveled across Africa 14 years before Russ Cook. Image: PA
The WRA, which consists of seven members who have successfully walked around the world, also claimed it had tried to contact Mr Cook and said Mr Olson and two other members – Serge Girard from France and Tony Mangan from Ireland has also completed the challenge before. .
“The Hardest Old Man” sets out from Cape Agulhas, the southernmost tip of South Africa. He also ran further north than Mr. Olson, covering nearly 2,000 miles and beating his time by 82 days.
Mr Olson, who only learned about the Hardest Old Man two weeks ago, also said the “hallmark” of an ultramarathon is “you can always tell who’s in front”.
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Russ Cook completed the route from South Africa to Tunisia in 352 days.
Speaking to Good Morning Britain about the WRA’s statement, Mr Cook said: “To be fair, I haven’t heard anything about it.
“But there have been a lot of people before me who have done a lot of big runs and respect for all of them because they were huge challenges, so there’s nothing but real respect.”
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WRA member Marie Leutey also said “it’s about sportsmanship”, adding: “He ran a fantastic run and we really want to applaud him and congratulate him for that, but we also don’t Hopefully Jasper’s run is written out of history because it doesn’t feel right.”
She also said the WRA’s fact-checking of Mr Cook’s running had “received a lot of abuse” from people, but added she wanted to invite him to join the elite group of runners.
“The door is open to Russ and we want to talk to him,” Ms. Liotti said. “What he does is great and very inspiring.”
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