Ultramarathon runner Russ Cook, who ran the length of Africa last year, has suggested daily 5km runs as a solution to Britain’s obesity crisis.
Cook, who is also known as “Hardest Geezer”, said he was “blown away” by Britain’s obesity statistics and could not believe it costs the NHS around £6.5 billion a year.
Describing it as a “crazy complex issue”, the charity fundraiser told The Independent: “If people were connected more with their bodies and did a 5km every day, for example, then yeah, obesity comes down, the strain on the NHS comes down.
“I’d love to see the UK do some stuff to make moving on foot or exercising just even more accessible for people.”
He also agreed with Park Run co-founder Russ Jefferys’ suggestion that running could be socially prescribed on the NHS.
“I wouldn’t want to get into the realm of getting too judgmental of people, but I think that there’s no real doubt the population of the UK doesn’t move enough.
“We’ve all got busy lives. People have families, kids, work, all the rest of it, it’s hard to fit it in, but I think you’ve got to keep your body moving.”
The 27-year-old is taking on his first major expedition since Africa, running the 3,000km (1,864 miles) Te Araroa, a mountainous trail which spans the length of New Zealand.
His route, which is the equivalent of 60 ultramarathons, will take him from the southern tip of the South Island, at Stirling Point in Bluff, across mountains, native forests, coastlines, seas and cities.
Mr Cook, who covered more than 16,000km when he ran the length of Africa, said he is most nervous about New Zealand’s mountainous terrain.
“New Zealand, terrain wise, has an insane amount of mountains. In the South Island the route is just purely mountainous,” he said.
“I’m going to be climbing the equivalent of Mount Everest 10 times in the next 10 weeks or so, which is more than the African route had for its entire 16,000 km.”
Alongside his running expedition, Mr Cook, who has partnered with 100% Pure New Zealand, is expected to undertake a number of activities along the way to immerse himself in the culture, from a city-scape bungee jump, a skydive and bathing under the stars.
He said: “I’m buzzing for the skydiving. I’ve never done skydiving before. So that one I’m super excited for that.
“I’m excited to go to Queenstown. I’ve seen loads of photos of it, the mountains, the river crossings, the lakes.
“[I’m ready to] just immerse myself in the real, the deep nature of New Zealand.”
