[OC] The first person to run the length of Africa (Russ Cook/Hardest Geezer) in 6 maps
September 4, 2024
[OC] The first person to run the length of Africa (Russ Cook/Hardest Geezer) in 6 maps
Posted by olly_r
19 comments
Data source: Russ’s Strava runs
Tools used: ExploreMap
Using all of Russ’s 358 Strava activities, I mapped his heart rate, average speed and weather conditions throughout his Africa run.
You can view the full map at [https://www.or-innovation.com/projectafrica](https://www.or-innovation.com/projectafrica) (clicking on each pin will bring up segment data .. useful to work out what was going on on a particular day!).
EDIT: Thanks to mfb and syphax for the spot.. wind speeds should read km/h not m/s
Bet his heart rate rose when he was about to be kidnapped.
That’s something like 22 different countries he crossed. Incredibly impressive all around.
woulda saved so much time if he went from Tunisia straight to Nigeria. Got a bit of an over achiever here. Mine as well go full circle at this point. Edit: My b. the homie went from South Africa to Tunisia and tokyo drifted away from some human traffickers/kidnappers in Nigeria
He’s gonna be furious once he finds out the massive short cut he could have taken.
Average heart rate and speed reducing as he progresses through his run. It’s like he was getting tired after months of continuous running. Maybe not as hard has he thought he was! /s
THAT’S IMPRESSIVE to say the least
I like this. It’s very interesting.
What’s more interesting is that a lot of people don’t understand how there could be a ~1500-meter elevation change in the desert. I guess you all needed better science teachers, because they obviously forgot that Pangea existed.
Hardest Geezer , represent
Did they start in the north or south? Edit: South
Love to see some scatter plots and clustering of this data; does he run faster in certain wind/temperature combinations?
Is there a simple relationship between heart rate and speed, or are there regions with different laws?
elevation change would be neat to see too!
[deleted]
Following his journey from the beginning was one of the most rewarding experiences online I’ve had. Had a lump in my throat when he finished it, wish I flew out there for it.
Discovered him on a GeoWizard video when he had <3,000 followers on IG. I think he’s now on 1.2mil — insane how he captured the platforms imagination (and algorithm) and just flew.
1s and 2s, bang bang.
All that information is neat, but its missing the most basic information… I’m curious how far he ran each day. We talkin like a marathon every single day or something?
Also some of those continuous color schemes should be discrete. Like temperature grouped every 5 deg and rainfall, almost all of it looks like its 0 or near 0 mm, but its hard to tell.
what happened to him in northern angola?!
Are all of the red heart beats where he saw a lion watching him?
Very cool. Thanks for sharing!
Has he discussed why he routed around Gabon? I’ll concede that my knowledge of African safety/stability is pretty much limited to what you glean from Western headlines and the occasional article, but I think of the countries he chose to run through instead as being sketchier than Gabon. Although DRC is huge and I think the worst of it is in the east?
Edit: didn’t find too much from a quick search, but he didn’t actually totally avoid Gabon. Also, for reference, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo are level two on the US State Department travel advisory system. DRC is level three, and the Central African Republic is level four. For the unaware, lower numbers indicate safer countries. So it makes sense that he minimized time in DRC and avoided CAR. And since both Gabon and ROC are relatively safe, he could’ve mostly stuck to the latter for a number of reasons. Terrain? Weather? Would love to learn more about his routing in general.
You should modify the title of the average temperature. First three maps are about the runner himself. Then, I read «average temperature» and I expect **his** average temperature, his body temperature, not the temperature of the air around him.
19 comments
Data source: Russ’s Strava runs
Tools used: ExploreMap
Using all of Russ’s 358 Strava activities, I mapped his heart rate, average speed and weather conditions throughout his Africa run.
You can view the full map at [https://www.or-innovation.com/projectafrica](https://www.or-innovation.com/projectafrica) (clicking on each pin will bring up segment data .. useful to work out what was going on on a particular day!).
EDIT: Thanks to mfb and syphax for the spot.. wind speeds should read km/h not m/s
Bet his heart rate rose when he was about to be kidnapped.
That’s something like 22 different countries he crossed. Incredibly impressive all around.
woulda saved so much time if he went from Tunisia straight to Nigeria. Got a bit of an over achiever here. Mine as well go full circle at this point.
Edit: My b. the homie went from South Africa to Tunisia and tokyo drifted away from some human traffickers/kidnappers in Nigeria
He’s gonna be furious once he finds out the massive short cut he could have taken.
Average heart rate and speed reducing as he progresses through his run. It’s like he was getting tired after months of continuous running. Maybe not as hard has he thought he was! /s
THAT’S IMPRESSIVE to say the least
I like this. It’s very interesting.
What’s more interesting is that a lot of people don’t understand how there could be a ~1500-meter elevation change in the desert. I guess you all needed better science teachers, because they obviously forgot that Pangea existed.
Hardest Geezer , represent
Did they start in the north or south?
Edit: South
Love to see some scatter plots and clustering of this data; does he run faster in certain wind/temperature combinations?
Is there a simple relationship between heart rate and speed, or are there regions with different laws?
elevation change would be neat to see too!
[deleted]
Following his journey from the beginning was one of the most rewarding experiences online I’ve had. Had a lump in my throat when he finished it, wish I flew out there for it.
Discovered him on a GeoWizard video when he had <3,000 followers on IG. I think he’s now on 1.2mil — insane how he captured the platforms imagination (and algorithm) and just flew.
1s and 2s, bang bang.
All that information is neat, but its missing the most basic information… I’m curious how far he ran each day. We talkin like a marathon every single day or something?
Also some of those continuous color schemes should be discrete. Like temperature grouped every 5 deg and rainfall, almost all of it looks like its 0 or near 0 mm, but its hard to tell.
what happened to him in northern angola?!
Are all of the red heart beats where he saw a lion watching him?
Very cool. Thanks for sharing!
Has he discussed why he routed around Gabon? I’ll concede that my knowledge of African safety/stability is pretty much limited to what you glean from Western headlines and the occasional article, but I think of the countries he chose to run through instead as being sketchier than Gabon. Although DRC is huge and I think the worst of it is in the east?
Edit: didn’t find too much from a quick search, but he didn’t actually totally avoid Gabon. Also, for reference, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo are level two on the US State Department travel advisory system. DRC is level three, and the Central African Republic is level four. For the unaware, lower numbers indicate safer countries. So it makes sense that he minimized time in DRC and avoided CAR. And since both Gabon and ROC are relatively safe, he could’ve mostly stuck to the latter for a number of reasons. Terrain? Weather? Would love to learn more about his routing in general.
You should modify the title of the average temperature. First three maps are about the runner himself. Then, I read «average temperature» and I expect **his** average temperature, his body temperature, not the temperature of the air around him.