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Ugandan-born, London-based Deo Kato will grow to be the primary individual in historical past to run from Cape City to London and commenced his journey on 24 July on the Lengthy March to Freedom Monument in Cape City. He’ll run 14 570 km in 381 days, with 53 400 m of elevation, operating throughout deserts and grasslands, overlaying eight instances the peak of Everest and all the things in between.
Why 381 days? In 1955, African People in Alabama staged a civil rights protest for 381 days. Deo’s message is analogous: to protest racial injustice and inequality inside our society. It received’t be his first operating streak. He has run 10km for 381 days in a row, inspiring different runners to hitch him in what was to grow to be the longest protest run in historical past. However this problem is larger.
Why are you doing this?
I’m operating from Cape City to London to inform the story of the historical past of human migration. Science has confirmed the primary people who ever walked on Earth have been from Africa. It’s about exhibiting that everyone who lives on this planet comes from Africa, and though our pores and skin color is completely different, we’re all the identical, all of us stem from the identical place, so we shouldn’t have that divide, say to one another that since you look completely different, you don’t belong right here.
I’m not doing it as a result of I need to, not as a result of I believe it’s enjoyable, however as a result of I imagine it’s essential to inform this story. We have to know our historical past in one of the best ways attainable. Our African historical past has been recounted incorrectly, particularly within the international north. As a toddler, I realized about colonisation in Africa, not concerning the good issues that got here earlier than, not the perfect. I used to be all the time studying concerning the adverse stuff. I don’t need to educate my children – when I’ve them – about colonisation and slavery. I need to present them precisely what Africa is.
I began operating from the Lengthy March to Freedom monument as a result of I needed to make the connection that marked freedom for a lot of South Africans by the battle that Nelson Mandela led to finish the apartheid. Beginning in essentially the most southerly level of Africa additionally means I’ve a greater likelihood of highlighting the human migration journey.
With the ability to transfer on foot [through the Mediterranean, a modern-day hotbed for human migration], the identical approach as individuals migrating right this moment, will give me a deeper understanding of the battle individuals are going by right this moment and the problems concerned, equivalent to modern-day slavery. It is going to additionally spotlight the boundaries put in place by the worldwide north to cease individuals from migrating. Earlier than the Scramble for Africa, which led to the colonisation and division of African territory by Europeans, there have been no borders there, individuals might transfer freely.
Why do you assume nobody has run the size of Africa and Europe?
It’s difficult for individuals to wrap their heads round, and there’s a stigma that Africa isn’t developed sufficient for individuals to journey from one finish to a different on foot. Additionally, individuals really feel it’s unsafe.
What’s your contingency plan in case you can’t run a part of the route?
I plan to go by way of Uganda as a result of that’s the place I’m from, however we’ve needed to divert round Sudan resulting from unrest. So, the route I’m taking now is the contingency plan, so if there’s one other contingency plan, that’s one thing I’ll have to research!
What about logistics?
I’ll journey the size of South Africa in a rented camper van to cross borders and sleep in. One individual will journey with me for assist.
Your coaching has been extra about getting in the precise mindset than bodily coaching.
I’ve accepted the problem, the journey I’m happening. Once I have a look at what’s concerned, there are lots of issues to contemplate. A battle or battle might get away in any nation at any time, which may very well be difficult to navigate. It’s not so simple as diverting a path to bypass an space as a result of that would add just a few thousand kilometres including to what I’m already operating!
Then, there’s the emotional aspect, abandoning family members again house within the UK. I received’t see them for over a yr, which can be powerful. It’ll be onerous for them to see me as a result of it’s far to journey, it’s costly, and I’ll all the time be on the transfer, which implies I’ll need to run just a few hundred kilometres earlier than I can be a part of them at a serious metropolis the place there’s an airport they will fly into.
You’ll need to run by the Sahara Desert. How have you ever ready for these situations?
In London, there’s no elevation or heat climate. So, I did a race within the US from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, involving one week of operating constantly day by day, crossing the desert in Dying Valley, California, the place it’s super-hot. It gave me a style of how my physique handles these situations.
How will you make sure you don’t get injured?
All of it comes all the way down to mindset, understanding this isn’t a race however a journey. I’ll work on a mean day by day mileage of 40 km however break it down into smaller chunks to provide my physique time to recuperate.
5 important objects you’ll carry with you on the run?
My girlfriend wrote me letters, which I’ll open on particular days throughout my journey.
My telephone as a result of it’s so versatile. I can translate phrases I don’t perceive if I encounter a language barrier and proceed to inform the story on social media.
I’ll have varied footwear for highway, path and hot-weather situations within the desert.
Physique cream and solar lotion to stop chafing and solar harm.
My hat – individuals who know me know my cap is a part of my identification.
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