I Felt Like I Was Going to Die in Tunisia

good morning from the Dubai airport we

just wrapped filming a super fun Series

in the neighboring country of Oman and

this morning we are flying to our 107th

country of Tunisia to witness history in

the

[Music]

making

I'm 350 days ago this man started

running North from the southernmost tip

of Africa with the crazy dream of being

the first person to ever run the full

length of the continent of Africa my

name's Russ Cook and I'm attempting to

become the first person ever to run the

entire length of Africa we were lucky

enough to be introduced to his journey

ear on last year as we were attempting

to flight board across the English

Channel our friend Lou introduced us to

his mission and that's when he was just

crossing the border from South Africa to

Namibia we've been following his journey

ever since then and for almost a year

now we've watched him run close to

10,000 Mi through 14 or 15 different

countries since most of our audience is

based in the US to put the length of

this run in perspective that's like

running across the US three times except

add in 10 times more logistical

complications the things took a turn for

Worse and and you were held up at

gunpoint he was confronted by men with

machetes then driven 7 hours into the

jungle at times his odds of finishing

have looked Bleak we've watched him pee

blood multiple times run with food

poisoning more times than I can count

this team was robbed at gunpoint cars

have broken down border crossings have

gone wrong but somehow he has always

managed to keep moving North over the

course of the last 350 days he has run

close to 10,000 Mi which means he's

averaged over 28 m miles per day that is

over a marathon a day for just shy of an

entire year and tomorrow Russ is going

to be running his final Marathon that

will end at the northernmost point in

Africa making him the first person in

history to run the entire length of

Africa 352 days more than 10,000 miles

across 16 countries he's here the

hardest Geer Rus cook he's finally

crossed the line and he's raised over £

870,000 for charity during the EP

challenge so about a month ago Russ put

an open invitation on the internet for

anyone to join him running his final

Marathon so today we are heading to

tenia with three goals goal number one

attempt to run a marathon with very

little training n not me goal number two

we just want to amplify what Russ is

done I think it's absolutely amazing he

deserves a million subscribers or more

so if you enjoy this video be sure to

subscribe to his channel and then go

back to the beginning and watch the

journey because it has been absolutely

crazy he is literally my hero and goal

number three is to help R raise more

money for charity he's trying to raise a

million pounds through this run we will

personally be donating and if you want

to as well we will leave a link in the

description below all right this is home

sweet home for the next 6 hours going to

be in a

home we are ex woron thanks for your

understanding and patience we going to

try our best to make up time doing the

flight in the meantime sit back and

we'll keep you posted any than all right

fueling up for the marathon with only

the healthiest ingredients

I don't think this mail was on anyone's

recommended Marathon diet plan attemped

to become the first person ever to run

the entire length of Africa this is

where I started 6 hours later we have

just landed in our 107th country of

Tunisia feels great to be in a new

country and maybe even better to be back

in Africa I think this is our first time

on the continent in almost 3 years we uh

spent the majority of that flight

watching old videos of Russ running and

it was just such a great reminder of so

much that he has overcome to get to

where he is now it felt like every

episode he was either vomiting something

was growing on his foot a Visa was

getting denied so he wasn't able to go

to a new country like the fact that he

has made it two Tunisia is a miracle

some days I wake up and I'm like Russ is

still

running oh it's heavier than I remember

all right we are officially in the

country time to find our rental car

nice wow I hope the weather feels like

this tomorrow but that's not what the

forecast is showing 90° and sunny for

the run is what it's going to be oh yeah

Sun's hot think about how many days in a

row Russ has been running in the

swimming you can do it for one day

thanks for the pep talk coming from me

who is doing

[Music]

nothing all right from here we have an

hour and a half drive to the Finish Line

oh I'm so glad you got snacks let's do

the drive inesia like so this video is

actually posting out of order we just

finished 2 weeks overlanding Oman

driving this massive Unimog it was

incredible and we are so excited to

share that series with you but being in

this tiny car feels so weird it actually

I feel like I'm sitting on the ground

yeah it feels unsafe we're posting this

video out of order because we felt like

this is like an actual event that's

occurring in time like history is being

made so we want it to post it as close

to the historic day as possible lanes

are definitely more more of a suggestion

here it's literally an intersection with

zero signage whatsoever whoever sticks

their nose out and gets it in front of

the other person thank you that was very

nice a

[Music]

yay is this like a police

check all right we made it through we

made it he pulled over the car in front

of us and the car behind us honestly if

you dropped me here and said where are

you I'm I would say tusy I'm actually

really glad that the Finish Line isn't

in Tunis and we have to drive to it

because we only have two short days in

the country and this is a great way to

see a little bit more of

it it was an adventure but we made

it so

blue wow Tunisia who knew what a view

the temperature feels amazing there's a

camel and there's camels on the beach so

this is home sweet home for the next two

nights quick tour the room is quite a

bit bigger than I expected we've got a

table a couch look at this huge

bed sounded a bit

hard real quick before we go any further

let me say a huge thank you to

betterhelp for sponsoring this video and

making this crazy adventure possible hi

Hank hi what baby doing he's taking a

nap rest has been super open about his

mental health

Journey you okay yeah and a few years

ago he was going through a really

challenging time before running

literally changed his life so now a big

part of his life mission is helping

other people overcome hard times as well

I think it's so cool when people are raw

and vulnerable about their struggles on

the internet because who knows how many

people rest his help through his story

so I want to be a part of spreading the

word that it is okay to not be okay and

that therapy is awesome and it can

really help you get through whatever

you're facing right now thankfully

betterhelp makes it so easy to get

started because betterhelp is 100%

online therapy they have a network of

over

35,000 licensed professional therapists

meaning you could talk to your therapist

from anywhere right R all you have to do

to get started is answer a few questions

about yourself on better help's website

and they'll match you to a therapist who

they think best meets your specific need

then you can talk to them however you

feel most comfortable whether that's a

phone call a video chat or messaging but

if for some reason you don't feel like

it's a give fit no problem it's easy and

free to switch to someone new so therapy

sounds like something you'd benefit from

go to betterhelp.com K and N or choose

Cara and Nate during sign up to get a

special discount off your first month of

therapy okay back toia

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good morning today is the day and I

think it is finally sinking in what I

sign myself up for what an incredible

morning sunrise is beautiful the birds

are chirping the weather cannot be more

perfect it's going to be a good day to

run you didn't miss much last night the

plan was just to have a relaxing night

we decided to go on a little sunset walk

and then walked way too far because the

further we went the more beautiful the

town got this town is stunning and then

last last night I ate some carbs because

I think that's what you're supposed to

do before

[Music]

Marathon so we are here to highlight

Russ's achievement I don't want to turn

this video on me but just for a second I

was looking at my straa which is the app

that I use to track my runs I have run

26.6 miles this year normally I have a

pretty consistent running routine so

showing up to do something like this

wouldn't be crazy but this year that

just hasn't happened and uh yeah this is

like the least in shape I've been in

four years I bought this backpack in

Dubai a few days ago before we left I've

never used it before this is probably

dirty and should have been clean but I

don't have time for that and I have done

one what I would consider training run a

week ago the night that our booked our

flights here 7 days out figured now

would be a good time to go run for the

first time in a month probably about as

much as I've run theti year I'm being

honest I just finished my one training

run all I know is that I ran for about

an hour all right see you in a week Russ

that was uh six miles I've never run

with a backpack I don't normally run

with water but I also normally don't run

marathons so we're going to try it out

watching Russ's video I saw he always

had a backpack on wow this holds so much

that feels so unnecessary what do you

think should I fill this up all the way

that's so heavy just keep cool as the

issue I would you're in Tunisia I feel

like it's going to get really hot so

this bag can hold 2 L this holds half a

liter this holds half a liter so I'm

bringing 3 lers of water which feels

insane I guarantee I'm going to end up

pouring this out there's no way I'm

drinking all this I really went back and

forth on whether or not I was going to

come and I was really mad at myself that

I hadn't kept myself in better shape

this year because that was the thing

that was holding me back was like I

wasn't sure if I could do this but you

know I figured if Russ can run across

the entire length of Africa I can still

have run marath maybe literally took the

tags off of this this morning L tomor

you actually need

stretch

ready having like secondhand nerves for

you

now all right woo we're doing it I'm so

nervous it's funny like this is such a

massive deal for me like going and

running a marathon with basically no

training but it's just another day for

us like he's probably going to wake up

eat some candy and I've been like

thinking about what I've been putting in

my body for the last 24 hours did you

get any more sweet eat from the shop be

over there or no I think I am so it's

not just Russ that's traveled the entire

length of Africa he has a small crew

with him a couple editors a cameraman a

couple Logistics guys there are a lot of

other people who deserve credit for this

especially in the documentation and

these editors have pulled off a heroic

feat we are watching the last video of

of the series right now which pretty

much brings us to present day like this

video ends when we got here yesterday it

was uploaded 9 hours ago so like they're

literally posting in real time I don't

know if anybody else can appreciate this

feat the editing alone much less

everything else from the perspective of

someone who creates videos it's

absolutely mind-blowing so good job not

only to Russ but also to the entire team

especially the

editors I know this should be obvious

but for some reason it's just hitting me

that every mile we drive right now is a

mile that I'm running back in the

opposite direction so it's making this

drive feel so much longer we're

literally driving almost an hour so

we're just all meeting at this random

gas station like Russ just dropped a

point on a map and then posted it on

Instagram based on the hotel lobby this

morning I think there's going to be more

people here than I realized I didn't

know if I was going to show up and it

was going to be like five people or 100

and I think it might be quite a few more

than that there's the shell there's with

all the people it's going to be a party

all right it's 10:08 everyone has

started walking so I think someone

somewhere has gotten word that they're

close the van with the editors and the

cameraman has just showed up first and

they're getting the credit they deserve

a full Standing Ovation now we're just

waiting for the man of the hour I cannot

fathom the feeling Russ must have right

now like he is about to run up to all of

these people cheering him on gosh after

all this time like I just would love to

know where he is emotionally physically

have a pretty good idea of where he is

literally the most mileage I've ever

done in a 4-day period of my life I'm

doing it off the back of a 348 day warm

up the man the myth the legend Russ Cook

has arrived are we running that way oh

okay good luck I love you bye Nate

bye I have no idea what's going on all

right it's a bit of chaos I don't think

we're going the direction that anyone

thought we were we have officially

started the final Marathon still haven't

seen Russ yet I'm way in the back this

may be where I stay all day at this

point I may never catch him and I won't

see him until the Finish L but that's

okay wow what a rush that was crazy it

is 10:43 all of a sudden Russ appeared I

did not see him personally everyone

started running and then they were gone

the locals have no idea what has hit

this town it is cracking me up meeting a

lot of cool people from a bunch of

different countries so far people from

South Africa Romania obviously tons of

people from the UK New Zealand nice it's

amazing to see how many people come out

from so many different backgrounds you

fly all the way here just for this yeah

amazing 24 hours of traveling how'd you

find rest Instagram oh sweet yeah we uh

I started following him a couple weeks

into the journey and been hooked ever

since most the time the algorithm is a

bad guy but in this case the ALG did

something good my plan is to drive along

the Route and cheer them on and get some

fun videos just try to capture the whole

thing and I know that Russ has his own

thing going on Nate has his own

challenge that he's dealing with but I

got to be honest I have my own hurdles

that I'm getting over today driving in a

foreign country hello children are just

running in the road don't worry hi I'm a

little nervous about it I don't love

driving like some people are kind of

into driving and cars and that I'm just

not one of those people especially in a

foreign place the towns in our

experience here so far are quite hectic

I can't imagine what it's like when it's

not Ramadan and there are way more

people out and

about the initial Pace was quick I think

there was a lot of enthusiasm coming out

of the gate also these are not closed

roads but now everyone settled into a

nice slow pace I feel like this is

increasing my chances of finishing where

are you from I'm trying Sweden Sweden

all right we a new country trying to

find as many countries as possible hello

hello yeah how many you go uh maybe like

six oh nice also found somebody from

Norway back there how did you hear about

rest uh YouTube nice follow there the

algorithm the algorithms yeah amazing

they know me they know me one more win

for the algorithm where where are you

from I'm from Tunisia Tunisia yes Vibes

are so good right now I think it's going

to get a lot quieter as we keep going I

can't get over how crazy that was I

hardly even like said bye to Nate he

just started running with the with the

herd I know he's going to do great Nate

is such an overachiever in everything he

does like he really truly like is All or

Nothing with every aspect of his life

which I absolutely love about him so I

know he's going to finish this race if

it means that he literally breaks buha

is fasting for Ramadan and attempting to

run the marathon today my first one my

first marathon that is so we will see

how it goes man good luck thank you you

too crazy that gives me the motivation

that I need to finish let's keep it up

cuz if you can do it with no food I can

do it with all the food and water I have

only I been feeling like I was in the

very back but I think I caught it middle

of the pack feels like a good place to

be this early on this is next level

running right here I'm not actually sure

who's part of this but love it can I ask

intentional basically I'm me to get the

film guy for a balance pain tonight I've

going to the airport and

but I thought the suitcase was a joke

turns out he was actually running with

it trying to get somewhere thankfully

it's a pretty you know quiet country

road for the most part on the route

someone sent me a link that has like the

21k pinned and then 10K and then 5K and

then the finish line so my plan is to go

to each of those spots and just wait I

guess dude I love the

beard all right Russ's cameraman gets a

name what's yours

Josh hardest ke it's hard to tell he's

in Disguise today so much respect for

all the guys in this van yall don't get

enough

credit that's the van that's been giving

him trouble the whole trip I just heard

it restart now's rough

we are 5 miles in the 940 Pace we going

to be honest this is not the slow group

run that I was counting on oh my gosh I

have found the runners what a sight

uh-oh uh-oh there we go sounds like the

uh F's having some trouble starting so

there are I don't know 150 people

running with about 20 cars behind them

there's a guy with a suitcase walking

down the road not really sure what I

should do here should I find a way to

get

around can not believe I'm driving next

to the blue van right now oh it's

smoking too this is not good hey R just

want to say it's not

man you had to do a lot to get here for

everybody to be able to run with you and

that's this guy just pointed out for me

that this is my longest run of the year

so thanks for that I've just crossed

I've just crossed that threshold and I'm

very different Heat this is Norway that

put us in nine countries this guy is a

machine in the heat to kind 30° almost

strategy is staying in the front for now

so as I get slower I can drop back and

potentially still finish firstus attempt

at calories this is so hot oh my I love

these

things not going to lie I'm in bad shape

say too loud and bring down the vibe but

struggling way more than I thought it

would it's early

on okay I just stopped to check Nate's

location and make sure I was going in

the right direction cuz I wasn't sure of

their route and he's like barely moving

so I don't know if he's struggling or if

the whole group is struggling which way

are you going I caught in no man's land

me and one other person right come on

the fast group's up there everybody else

is back here I'm not going to lie I'm

dying I think we're about 8 miles in

this is how bad I was hurting go mile 24

by me I grease all right the walk is

shame I guarantee here is going to be

optimistically waiting for me to be a FR

I don't know going to be there I'm in a

line of cars going about 10 km per hour

we're just driving right alongside the

runners hopefully I'll passinate at some

point give him a little boost oh okay

that makes me feel better just got a

little encouragement from the world

famous YouTuber Zach Hall up that was

that was great while I'm just driving at

5 km per hour I have some thoughts I am

not going to even pretend to act like I

know what it's like to run the length of

Africa make that clear however last year

Nate and I rode a trom bike across the

us with our friends you know we were

living in a van we were doing something

physically challenging we were making

videos so I feel like we have the

tiniest tiniest taste of what this

experience has been like gosh I can

hardly even say it because it's not true

but like it's it's the best thing I have

to compare it honestly swallowing my

pride so hard out here but this Run's

not about me it's about Russ and he is

smashing it my gosh there's Nate oh he's

walking I hope he's okay how you doing

Nate how do it look like I'm doing are

you okay I'm literally died you're doing

great oh poor guy yeah this is going to

be rough I'm going to have to choose

between finishing with Russ and uh

getting in the car poor Nate he looked

like he was struggling shoot well like I

was saying Russ has run 10 times the

distance that we rode taking turns on a

bike which just it's hard for me to wrap

my mind around that so obviously that is

the biggest Miracle of this whole thing

that he's actually done it however there

are just a few things that I would

really like to highlight that are the

reasons that I have fallen in love with

this journey and this crew that I just

don't want to go unnotice and the first

one is his team Russ has not been alone

in this challenge I have been a support

van before woo support man and it is a

full-time job the logistics of

everything and Africa is especially like

so many border crossings and police

checks you know like figuring out where

you're going to meet up and getting

enough food and water it sounds like a

total nightmare and on top of that

they've been cranking out two videos a

week I mean I genuinely don't know how

they've done it I really don't know how

they've done it as the editor in the

relationship I just have so much respect

for those guys and on top of that at the

end of our 36 day bike ride I was so

creatively depleted did I could not wake

up and film myself in a van riding on a

bike getting back in the van again like

I was so over it so for them to still be

making these videos so entertaining

they're so funny the editing is so good

what's the game plan for today just

going to do that thing that do a mad

props to the editing crew I really truly

don't know how you did it I don't mean

to embarrass you on camera but I found

somebody to walk with and he is from

Hendersonville Tennessee which is the

town that I grew up in all right we're

back we're running we de if Russ can run

the entire length of Africa we can push

through for a day that's the Finish Line

all right and the last thing I'll point

out is just who Russ is as a person in

case you don't know he is doing this

whole nutty challenge for charity and he

is giving away every single penny that

he is making from this he's risking his

life he's breaking his body going

through this insane journey and then not

making a penny just shows who he is and

how big his heart is I love the contrast

to this there a bunch of people out here

going about their daily life wondering

what in the world we're all doing it

looks flat in the camera but this is a

giant Hill yeah oh there they go hi team

gosh I'm so Star Struck like I said

before we are going to be donating

probably more than Nate wants to because

I just am so excited about this the link

is going to be in the description if you

feel inspired or R has made you smile or

you've been affected in any way by what

he's done please please donate to his

Charities oh my gosh Russ is right

behind me this is awesome I can't

believe it somehow I got in front of

everyone oh my gosh yay oh my gosh this

is so exciting I love being crew

[Music]

don't

yeah we just started running for the

camera this group's doing block three

run seven that's

the keep

going oh okay I feel like Nate has found

a little crew that he's excited to run

with sounds like they've made some goals

together it's going to be great I am

just going to not be neutral and get

right back in the queue of cars who all

just passed me pretty excited about the

shot that I got of Russ and his crew he

seemed like he was in a good place my

gosh I seriously I'm so Star truck is so