Endurance athlete helps homeless with 68-mile run for West Sussex charity Turning Tides

Endurance athlete Russ Cook, known as The Hardest Geezer, has raised more than £1,200 for West Sussex charity Turning Tides by running 68 miles, from sun up to sun down.
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The mammoth effort was Russ’s version of the 2.6 Challenge, with the aim of helping homeless people in his home town of Worthing and beyond.

Last year, Russ became the first person to run solo and unassisted from Asia to London, and then carried on to finish in Worthing.

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That amazing feat entailed Russ running a marathon a day for 68 days and he was happy to follow it up on Sunday by running 68 miles in one go for Turning Tides.

Russ Cook ran from sun up to sun down for Turning TidesRuss Cook ran from sun up to sun down for Turning Tides
Russ Cook ran from sun up to sun down for Turning Tides

Russ said: “I was truly overwhelmed at everyone’s generosity. I set the target at £150 and we managed to raise over £1,200 in just one day.

“I really appreciate the work they do to help the homeless and most vulnerable people in our local communities. It’s so important that we keep charities like this alive during these difficult times so they are able to continue that work in the future.”

Russ managed a personal best this time, completing the 68 miles in 13 hours, but not without issues.

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He explained: “At around 60km, I was suffering badly from dehydration, after making some mistakes with refuelling, I managed to get my mum to meet with some supplies but I was stumbling, swaying, losing my senses and felt close to passing out.

“Luckily, I managed to regain some composure and finally hold on to some liquid, which meant I was just about able to complete the run.”

Many other challenges were taken on by the whole community in support of Turning Tides, from baking 26 cup cakes to doing 26 burpees.

Turning Tides supports homeless people and, like so many charities across the UK, has been hugely impacted by the cancellation of fundraising events due to Covid-19. The charity launched an Emergency Appeal recently due to the unprecedented need as a result of the recent Coronavirus.

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Chief executive John Holmstrom said: “We have been supporting homeless people across West Sussex for the last 28 years but we have never seen anything like the situation we are facing now and urgently need to ask for help. The picture we are facing as an organisation is deeply troubling.”

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