Cape town: Step by step, mile by mile, Deo Kato ran his way across a continent - and beyond. After a year and a half on the road, the Ugandan British runner and campaigner has become the first person to run from Cape Town to London. The 8,262-mile journey took him through 21 countries, transforming an extraordinary physical feat into a powerful act of activism, aimed at confronting racism and reshaping how migration is understood.According to United Nations, born in Uganda and raised in the United Kingdom, Deo first took up running to manage his health. Over time, that personal discipline grew into a journey of purpose, connecting endurance with identity, protest, and hope. In 2020, a moment of global reckoning around racial injustice - the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis - became a turning point for Deo. He realized his running could serve a purpose beyond endurance.Deo decided to use his running to create change and speak out against racial injustice, leading him to run ten kilometers every day fo r 381 days. This effort marked each day of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a pivotal moment in the United States civil rights movement. His commitment grew into the ambitious venture of running from Cape Town to London, symbolically retracing humanity's earliest migration routes from Africa.Along the way, Deo faced numerous challenges, including being detained despite having the correct documents and needing to reroute due to conflict or restricted access. As he traveled closer to Europe, he experienced increased scrutiny and was often perceived as an irregular migrant. Despite these obstacles, Deo's journey was sustained by the support of local runners, strangers, and online supporters who joined him along the way.His journey was not solely about endurance but about reclaiming the story of migration as one of resilience, human progress, and development. Deo plans to continue using his platform for activism, focusing on migration, belonging, and shared humanity. As he emphasizes, believing in one's power to c reate change is crucial.
Menu