Africa-Press – Uganda. Fourteen countries across two continents, covering close to 15,000km with about 54,000m of elevation, is long enough a distance by plane.
So you have to give it up for one who attempts in on their twos. Ugandan-born and London-based Deo Kato is doing just that.
He set off on July 24, 2023 from Cape Town, South Africa on a quest to run across deserts and grasslands in Africa and Europe, covering eight times the height of Mt. Everest – which at 8,850m is the highest point on Earth; and everything in between over 381 days.
It will be all the above distance covered in just over a year when Kato completes his challenge in August this year at Downing Street in London.
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Kato’s runstreak is inspired by the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955, when African Americans in Alabama staged a civil rights protest for 381 days.
The man, who was born in Mulago and only moved to London aged 10 years old, wants to show the next generation that nothing is impossible.
He wants to highlight where humanity first walked on earth, and be the first person in history to run from Cape Town to London while at it.
“I want to show exactly where humanity started to walk on earth, and to be honest it started in Africa,” Kato said over his stop in Kampala this past week.
“We are not told this in the UK or in the Western world so I want to show the world.”
According to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, humans first evolved in Africa, and much of human evolution occurred on this continent.
“The fossils of early humans who lived between six and two million years ago come entirely from Africa,” it says.
Kato has an archaeology and anthropology student from Oxford University as part of his advisory team helping more on research on the subject.
“I also want to use this to show a way of combating racism by running. We must never keep quiet about this.”
George Floyd murder spark
Kato runs an organisation called Running for Justice. It was started in 2020 following the killing of the then 46-year-old black man – George Floyd, who was murdered in Minneapolis, USA, by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer.
Through research, Kato discovered that there had been a 381 day campaign during Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955 to end segregation on buses in America.
“So I had to do a run of 10km everyday for 381 days, and that I finished after a year and 16 days,” said Kato, “and that was carried on by other people, and then it turned into a relay.”
He is grateful to people “supporting me through my Go Fund Me page from all over the world and other sponsors like Adidas Terlik because they understand the impact of this, which is a long term project.”
184 days in, six countries ticked
Kato, who had run for 184 days and in six countries at the time of this interview, started his running from Cape Town before proceeding to Botswana.
“But from Botswana, I had to change the route a little bit. I was supposed to go to Zambia but I had to divert and go to Zimbabwe, and from Zimbabwe I now went to Zambia.
“And this was because of the wildlife and the national parks were quite difficult to navigate around.
“From Zambia, I went to Tanzania, and now I’m here in Uganda.”
From Uganda Kato headed to Kenya, with Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Algeria laying in wait.
“After Algeria, I’ll cross over by boat to Spain, France and then cross over again back to the UK.”
Diet, exertions
All factors remaining constant, Kato runs 40-50km per day. But just how does he do it?
“I do pay a lot of attention to my body and if I feel any niggles or pain within my body, I try to act on it as soon as possible,” he explained.
“A lot of times the challenges I get are knee pain, back pain and sometimes shoulders as well.
“But I have to act on it as soon as I can. So in the morning I do a routine. I massage my body with a massage gun, and as soon as I finish the run, I do exactly the same and cap it up with a stretch.
“Also, eating healthy is extremely important. I won’t be eating burgers, chocolate and whatnot because it’s going to negatively impact me the following day.
“Then I have to sleep well and enough. Sleep is extremely essential for this kind of journey.”
Challenging days
“There are days when I wake up and I don’t wanna do it. But because what I’m doing is a runstreak, I have to run every single day, and the minimum I have to do is 10km.
“The maximum is endless. I can go 50km, 60km, even 100km if I feel my body is good enough.
“However, sometimes I wake up and ask myself; ‘why am I doing this, really?’
“I have to ask myself those questions, and the reminder is always that I’m campaigning for everybody who feels marginalised by racism and everything else that comes with it.”
Dealing with illness
It has not just been body exertions. Kato has also fallen ill along the way.
“Falling ill is part of this. When I was in Tanzania, I became seriously ill,” said.
“I had food poisoning, and natural illness at the same time, which made it extremely difficult to wake up in the morning and go again.
“So what I have to do is find ways to continue going again but without damaging my body so much that I can’t do it again the next day.
“So I will rest most of the time. I’d be in bed pretty much most of the day, then I would go out and do 10km, which is the minimum.
“I’ll either have to walk it and then come back and rest, then do it the next day until I recover and then can run again.”
When he first started out running 10km per day in 2020, Kato’s body struggled to adjust to the new life, and after a week it was already sending mixed signals.
“I had to push through that fatigue and keep going for at least another week.
“And then my body started to feel that maybe I can carry on again, but then after a month, the same thing happened again. It was so tough to even get out of bed, which was extremely tough.
“But I had to push through again and keep going again, which is exactly the same thing that happened when I started out with this trip in Cape Town.
“Sometimes I’d start out by just walking, and soon my body would give me green light to run again”
Climate change
Yet that was not all. Kato also had to deal with the – sometimes – unforgiving climate variations.
“Every single day I’m somewhere new covering a long distance. At one point I’m used to the surface I’m running on for a few days, and out of the blue the surface changes completely.
“It’s quite difficult to say I’ve adjusted properly. For example, in Tanzania, the elevation was tough. Sometimes I’m running at 6,000m high, and then here in Uganda – sometimes less than 100m elevation.
“I just have to take each day as it comes. Every day is completely different and I don’t know how it will impact my body.
Ugandan potholes
“Here in Uganda there are a lot of potholes, uneven ground, loose stones, it’s very tricky.
“So I try not to overpush by running very fast in an attempt to finish a marathon, say like in three hours.
“I just give myself an allowance to say ‘you know what, you have the whole day to try and complete this.
“If I have to walk because the elevation is extremely high, or in a place where the surface is very uneven, I’ll do just that and then carry on when it’s better.”
Right running kit
For efficiency and comfort, especially in extremely hot conditions, Kato – who attests that this challenge is mainly down to mental preparedness than physical – wears light, breathable t-shirts and shorts.
“The shoes are the most vital part of what you wear. So if I’m running on tarmac, I’ll wear light shoes that don’t have too much grip so that I’m able to easily run without feeling too heavy.
“Then on gravel, especially when it’s raining, I wear shoes that are suitable for that kind of ground where there is mud and soil. They have a grip on the ground so that I don’t fall.
“And then there is the middle part, where you wear shoes that allow you to change from mud back to tarmac.”
Kato entered Uganda from Tanzania via the Mutukula border, running through the hardly friendly Masaka Road to Kampala.
While in Kampala, Ugandan running clubs welcomed him by running with him.
Team Matooke’s first Kampala-Entebbe run of the year is the last Kato did last Sunday before continuing his runstreak towards Kenya via Jinja, Tororo and then Busia border this week.
While across the border, Kato – who until his first 381-day 10km per day challenge in 2020 did only simple runs – will navigate areas around Mount Kenya, whose altitude will also test him.
“I’ll then go up north, where the climate will change once again from dry to a little green.
“From here I’ll then go to Ethiopia, which is drier, and I’ll have to adjust to the climate again.”
Accommodation
While traversing the different countries, Kato is “sometimes sleeping in the car (his escort car) on the side of the road, and other times I’m sleeping in a tent in a camping area.
“Sometimes I’m sleeping in a hotel, which is nice to have a bed, or a lodge. When I’m sleeping in the car or the tent, that’s when it gets a bit difficult managing my body for the type of run trek that I’m doing.”
Up north
Yet North Africa, which has some of the hottest temperatures in the world, still awaits Kato.
“Starting in Cape Town allowed me to experience winter conditions. Then in Botswana I went through a desert, which was extremely hot as well but by the end, it was winter time.
“It was important that I experienced both weather conditions early on. So in North Africa, I just have to not over push, to not try to become a hero.
“I have to have more frequent stops for hydration and body maintenance, and walk where I can.”
Initially, Kato’s route was to pass via DRC and CAR, but that was adjusted to go through Kenya and up north to Egypt.
“So the distance has also now gotten longer. I have now done 4,500km out of about 15,000kms. Let’s say that now I’m left with just over 250 days before I can finish.
“That means that I’m behind on the 381 days target. And with the distance also becoming longer, it means I also have to manage my body for a little longer.”
Kato planned for this runstreek for a over a year, putting together all the medical and dietary needs before subjecting himself to what the uninitiated would call self-torture.
His personal doctor, physio and dietician are always a call away for advice whenever need arises.
“I also make sure I see a physio for a body check whenever I go into big cities… Just to make sure I don’t break down so much.”
Kato says he also does not know how he runs an average of 40-50km per day, but “my drive and purpose are so high that I keep going.”
His girlfriend, who is in London, is his “biggest supporter, manager and the main planner of this whole thing.”
On the road, Kato moves with a driver and another person, who ensure all his needs are met while running.
Apart from a few hiccups here and there, Kato has largely been helped on visa processing, save for Sudan, “which is a little tricky because of the security situation there.”
Kato, who will later tell his story in a film, implores African media to celebrate their own when they do these kinds of human challenges – just like the West do. We got your back, Kato!
To help Deo Kato raise funds for his Cape Town to London run, visit: gofund.me/5ce10bea
Five essentials on Kato’s journey
His girlfriend wrote him letters, which he opens on specific days during his journey.
His phone because it helps him translate words and languages
Various pairs of shoes for road, trail and hot-weather conditions
Body cream and sun lotion to prevent chafing and skin damage
His hat/cape
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