Lad running entire length of Africa needs help or he may be forced to stop after 278 days

Russ Cook is running the length of Africa, but on day 278 of his journey he's hit a bit of a problem.

He's been on quite the adventure singe he started, having been robbed at gunpoint in what he described as a 'proper spot of bother'.

That got him his own police escort for part of his journey, while on another occasion he said he ended up surrounded by 'blokes with machetes' after he got lost.

Starting in South Africa, Russ made his way up the continent's western coast and has had to adjust his goal of running 360 marathons in 240 days after some of the aforementioned setbacks.

He's now on day number 278 of his journey and has updated his fans with the worrying news that his attempt is in major trouble.

Taking to Instagram, the West Sussex man explained that his route takes him through the sweltering heat of the Sahara Desert and to complete his run he'll have to cross the border between Mauritania and Algeria.

He'd already seen there might be a problem with doing this as he reckoned to the BBC that getting over that border on foot 'hasn't been done by foreigners in a very long time'.

Now he's explaining that he's got 'a bit of a problem' as he and those travelling with him had not managed to get visas for Algeria.

Russ said it was 'game over' for his attempt to run the length of Africa if he couldn't get the visas, as he'd never be able to reach his goal then.

278 days into his run he estimates that he's run around 12,000km (7,456 miles) and raised over £140,000 for charity.

However, reaching the end goal now is all hanging on getting the visas from Algeria otherwise he can't enter the country.

The northernmost part of Africa is located in neighbouring Tunisia, so if Russ wanted to reach it without going through Algeria he'd have to circle round through Mali, Niger and Libya.

Instead of running up through the Sahara Desert he'd have to run across a significant stretch of it, pretty much all of which the Foreign Office advises against travelling through.

Russ appealed to anyone watching his video who might be able to help out to do so.

That involves managing to get Algeria to give him the visas he needs to make the final leg of his journey, so if you know someone in the Algerian government this is your time to shine.

Some following his journey suggested that if he couldn't get into Algeria then he might try heading up to Morocco, so he wouldn't reach the northernmost point of Africa but he'd still make it to the Mediterranean.

Still, Russ doesn't call himself the 'hardest geezer' for nothing and getting from one end of Africa to the other is still his goal.

Come on, the entire nation of Algeria, do the right thing and let Russ run through you.