Keith Boyd, 57, a man holding both British and South African citizenship has run the entire length of Africa in 301 days on foot.
Guinness World Records confirmed on their Facebook page on July 18,2024.
Keith began his epic run journey from Cape Town(South Africa) to Cairo(Egypt), beating the 25-year-old previous record by 17 days.
Covering a distance of 10,793 km (6,706 mi), he journeyed through South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt.
The-57-year-old managed to cross South Africa in 47 days, followed by a little over two weeks in Botswana and Zimbabwe, and approximately a month each in Zambia, Tanzania, and Kenya.
Averaging 50 km per day, Keith often split the distance into five 10 km sections.
However, Progress slowed for Keith in Ethiopia, where he faced a near-kidnapping while attempting to cross the war-torn northern region of Amhara. On his first attempt, he was forced to turn back. The second time, gunmen stopped, beat him, and his videographer, bundling them into a van.
Recounting the ordeal on CapeTalk Radio in South Africa, Keith said,
“If you get half a kilometre away from the road, you might as well be 100 miles from anywhere. The police or the military just won’t find you there in those sorts of areas. And then you have a full-blown kidnapping situation.”
Fortunately, Keith managed to delay his captors’ efforts to move them away from the road and eventually negotiated their release for $1,000 (£770).
Running another 100 km under military escort, he eventually had to leave for Sudan due to escalating danger, without completing the route.
Steering clear of the conflict in Sudan, he followed an easterly route to Egypt, arriving in Cairo 270 days after leaving Cape Town.
Keith embarked on this challenge to raise funds for his non-profit organization, Rainbow Leaders, which focuses on combating poverty in Africa by encouraging youth to vote.
“The first and most important to me is to reduce poverty levels in Africa through getting young people actively engaged in democracy, thereby electing good leaders and holding them accountable. That is the only way that we can grow the economy faster than the population, thereby creating more desperately needed jobs, and reducing poverty.” He told Guinness World Records
Keith is currently writing a book titled Running Africa, where he chronicles his journey and everything he encountered along the way.
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Story by: Gabriel Tecco Mensah | univers.ug.edu.gh
