Deo Kato completes Cape Town to London Run
Deo Kato, a Ugandan-born trail runner and running coach set to do something that many thought was impossible. He aimed to run from Cape Town, which is essentially at the tip of South Africa, all the way to London, in the heart of the United Kingdom. The goal of his run was to show the beauty and community that originates from the act of running but there was also a political reason, namely to outline that people across the world should have access to travel and freedom of movement across the world.
This article aims to shed some of the highlights of this amazing run by Deo Kato.
The Sheer Volume
From Cape Town to London, you have to run 12,119km or 7530 miles. That is more than 200 marathons. Most people consider completing one marathon a lifetime achievement – Kato completed 200 over the span of 17 months. He started his journey on the 17th of July 2023 from the bottom of Africa and worked his way up to London by the 22nd of December 2024.
He journeyed almost completely straight up Africa, ending his African leg in Egypt. Moving through countries like Botswana, Zambia and South Sudan. He was accompanied by a small crew in a van that would ensure that he had the necessary food and drinks with him so that he did not have to carry these with him every day.
A considerable commitment from the crew too, to make something as meaningful as this happen. Can you imagine running from one end of Botswana to the other? Let alone doing that almost 20 times over from country to country? Most people would rather stay home and engage in some digital entertainment from the comfort of their homes like UK casinos not on GamStop and just pick a theme that was perhaps athletics focussed to get their passion in that way.
It's completely unfathomable what Deo Kato did, his commitment to the sport and his message of migration are amazing and the km and miles he covered are massive.
Anecdotes From the Journey
Most of Kato's journey was smooth sailing, with many people following him on his runs once his message and goals became more known and spread. He shared stories of the kindness of the people he met along the way, who would offer him water or food along the way, even if they had very little. This was exactly Kato's aim, to show the generous spirit of individuals for the shared journey that is human life.
Of course, there were a few sketchy moments along the way, as is to be assumed. Such as being imprisoned in South Sudan and being kept in a jail cell and being sent to the National Security Service. When you are on such a big quest, things are bound to happen, especially when navigating so many different countries.
However, Kato preserved and managed to complete his goal of ending his journey in London on December 22. The best thing about it is that more than 300 people signed up to run the last leg of his journey in London, meaning that he wasn't alone – again, a lovely thought, that running can be so much more than exercise, it's something that can bring people together.
A beautiful story of athletics and running but also courage and determination.
