The 'Hardest Geezer' On Finding Direction When You're Lost

**Jake** (0:02)
This episode of High Performance is brought to you by Bulldog Skincare. In their mission to support everyday skin endurance, Bulldog Skincare are proud to be the official men's skincare partner of Ironman Europe. And our guest today here on High Performance is a true high performer, Russ Cook or maybe Hardest Geezer, as you might know him. Russ, of course, shot to public fame after completing a number of incredibly impressive feats of endurance, most notably his run across Africa in 2024, which saw him become the first person to run the length of Africa. Over 352 days, Russ covered more than 10,000 miles, along the way inspiring so many people, as he documented his journey and raised close to a million pounds for charity. However, he didn't stop there. He's gone on to complete a number of other serious challenges, and as he sits down and talks to me, he's currently training for the Leeds Ironman Triathlon.

**Russ Cook** (0:54)
Yeah, baby.

**Jake** (0:55)
Now, look, I haven't competed in an Ironman, but Bulldog's skincare have challenged our guest today to do exactly that, and I'm excited for him. However, in this episode, what I really want to dive into is the mindset around what it actually takes to prepare for something like an Ironman. What is driving Russ, and can he pull it off? How's the training going?

**Russ Cook** (1:17)
Well, I had a baby four weeks ago, so getting a good amount of sleep deprivation training in.
But now, mate, I'm really looking forward to the Ironman. It's going to be a bit of a different test for me. Obviously, I've done the running before, but the swimming and the cycling is a whole new kettle of fish.

**Jake** (1:30)
Okay, sum up parenthood after four weeks for me.

**Russ Cook** (1:32)
Do you know what, mate? I think, if I was talking really honestly, when she was born, I've never been struck by, it literally felt like a lightning rod of emotion. I don't know how it is with your kids. It sounds quite softy, but I've never felt so much love in my heart.
Some of my favorite things at the moment are watching Em, my missus, and Poppy, our little girl, just asleep in the mornings or in the evenings. They're just cuddled up there asleep. Or I'll dance around with her in the kitchen, send her off, or I'll just stick Coldplay on the speakers and I'll have a little sing and a dance of her. And, oh mate, there's a real deep sense of fulfillment from the last four weeks, which has been really nice, actually.

**Jake** (2:12)
And this is interesting in the conversation we're having, I think, for you, because motivation is so important to do the things that you do. I wonder whether having a baby is this whole new layer of motivation, a whole nother reason for what you do.

**Russ Cook** (2:27)
I would definitely think, I mean, I am only four weeks in, but I would definitely think so. I think it gives a new sort of responsibility as well, you know. It's not, I think even when I look back at some of the challenges that I've done before, like, there's definitely an element of, I'm doing it for a higher purpose, doing it for other people. But I think now that I've got my little girl in the world, like, there's like this sense of, you know, I'm her father, I want to protect her, I want to guide her in all the right ways. And I know that a lot of that is down to how well, you know, what can I do in my own life, you know.

**Jake** (2:58)
Listen, I think a lot of people talked to you about what happened in Africa.
And before this conversation, I obviously listened to you on lots of other podcasts and read lots of articles. And so much focus was about what you learned in Africa, how Africa tested you, where the growth was. And I would like to rewind quite a lot.

**Russ Cook** (3:15)
Sounds great.

**Jake** (3:16)
To when you're 21, you're in Worthing.
You've been up since 4 o'clock in the morning, working as a cleaner. You come home, you open a cupboard, and in that cupboard is a single tin of little new potatoes.

**Russ Cook** (3:29)
What a time to be alive that was.

**Jake** (3:31)
Take me into that room.

**Russ Cook** (3:32)
I was a bit younger than 21 then actually. I would say when I look back on it now, I'd say that was like such a pivotal moment for me as a-

**Jake** (3:39)
That specific moment in time.