Deo Runs
HAVE you heard of
DEO KATO?
I might be biased as his girlfriend but all things aside, Deo is a man you need to know about. a great leader of our time, a visionary and an individual doing something so huge it’s hard to put into words. Deo is attempting to be the first person in history to run from Cape Town to London. All 14,570km of it.
Deo set off from Cape Town on 24th July 2023, running an average of 40km a day with 1 person on the ground supporting him. He is currently, 8 months into this journey, now in South Sudan heading north to Sudan and Egypt. This isn’t just a story of endurance and big distances, however, this is a story of one man’s mission to end racism, to raise awareness by telling the story of human migration from Africa to the rest of the World. He said to me a few years back, “what we are doing to end racism isn’t working so we need to do something different. I’m going to go back to the root cause, change the narrative, educate on the truth of our origins, remind people that we all come from Africa. We are all children of Africa”. Deo has a way of explaining things that makes it easy to understand. He has the ability to change the world, I truly believe that.
So, the journey so far …
We naively thought the running would be the hardest part of this journey but Deo has faced many challenges along the way, from managing extreme heat to torrential downpours, winds enough to blow most of us off our feet and wildlife so nearby that the support vehicle needed to drive right next to him in case he needed to jump in. Countless border crossings with hurdles and challenges of their own and then there is the fuelling as a vegan. Imagine doing your ‘long run’ and wondering where you will sleep that night, what you will eat and if you’ll be able to shower, day after day and week after week after week. This is Deo’s reality as he changes location so often, staying only a few nights at a time in the same place. Deo will often tell me, “running 40km a day is the easy part” and I couldn’t agree more.
Logistically it’s hard, there are many unknowns and each encounter is a new experience of highs and lows. On the flip side however, life goes on here as I try my best to support this mission, build awareness and raise funds. I am also just a woman missing her boyfriend, her love, her best friend and trying hard to remain positive and supportive at all times. Emotions take over when reality kicks in and the enormity of this journey hits me (again), knowing that without more funding the chances of Deo reaching mainland Europe are greatly reduced.
Funding is by far the hardest part in all of this but we move forward every day with hope and belief of a greater future for all. To build on the “Legacy of Hope” he created as he visits children in and out of the classroom along the way. At the time of writing this Deo has been running for 252 days, covered approx 7528km, crossed 7 countries and covered around 56,400m of elevation - that’s over 6.5 times up Everest !!! As he now prepares to run up through South Sudan and into Sudan new challenges face us and most likely the hardest section of this trip. Please support if you can, this is a once in a lifetime project, witnessing a man making history by running from Cape Town to London.
The beauty in believing is the beauty in living. When the world around us is falling apart and you question humanity take strength from a man called Deo Kato.
Thank you Team VÅGA for your support with this mission. Hopefully by the time this goes to press Deo will have received your caps ahead of the gruelling Sahara desert.
We run for peace, equality and justice.
Alice