Run The Longest Walk

This map is one that has already been mapped for us and documented as the World’s Longest continuous walk without any ferries or flights. This map is undoubtedly the toughest to achieve out of all our maps. Firstly, it is the largest by far – over 5,000kms more than any of our other maps. Secondly, the distances between some towns are very large, with a lot of vast space along the way. Being a pre-determined route, we didn’t alter it to include more towns or more attractions to suit us; we followed the journey exactly “as is”! 

Milestones

Gaborone - BOTSWANA 1,449km

Botswana has a landscape defined by the Kalahari Desert and the Okavango Delta, which becomes a lush animal habitat during the seasonal floods. The massive Central Kalahari Game Reserve, with its fossilized river valleys and undulating grasslands is home to numerous animals.

Muyombe – ZAMBIA 3,653km

Zambia is a country of rugged terrain and diverse wildlife, with many parks and safari areas. On its border with Zimbabwe is the famed Victoria Falls – indigenously called Mosi-oa-Tunya, or "Smoke That Thunders" – plunging a misty 108m into narrow Batoka Gorge.

Nimule – SOUTH SUDAN 5,722km

South Sudan’s vast plains and plateaus are drained by the Nile River and its tributaries. This river system runs from south to north across the entire length of the east-central part of the country. At the heart of the country is a clay plain, the centre of which is occupied by an enormous swampy region known as  Al-Sudd (the Sudd).

Cairo - EGYPT 9,990km

Egypt dates to the time of the pharaohs. Millennia-old monuments sit along the fertile Nile River Valley, including Giza's colossal Pyramids and Great Sphinx as well as Luxor's hieroglyph-lined Karnak Temple and Valley of the Kings tombs. The capital, Cairo, is home to Ottoman landmarks like Muhammad Ali Mosque and the Egyptian Museum.

Petropavl – KAZAKHSTAN 15,774km

Kazakhstan extends from the Caspian Sea in the west to the Altai Mountains at its eastern border with China and Russia. Its largest metropolis, Almaty, is a long-standing trading hub whose landmarks include Ascension Cathedral, a tsarist-era Russian Orthodox church, and the Central State Museum of Kazakhstan, displaying thousands of Kazakh artifacts.

Krasnoyarsk – RUSSIA 17,444km

Russia spans across 2 continents - Eastern Europe and Northern Asia – and is the largest country in the world by area, encompassing one-eighth of Earth's inhabitable landmass. Russia extends across eleven time zones and borders sixteen sovereign nations, the most of any country in the world.

Tynda – RUSSIA 20,085km

Tynda is Evenki's word related to "flat river bank" or a "place for grazing of deers". The town has a river with the same name, separating the town from the railway station. The 16-floor apartment houses in the centre and wooden barracks in the suburbs are two contrasts left over from Communist times.

Magadan – Russia 22,900km

Magadan is one of the few ports in this remote part of Russia, kept open over winter by resident icebreakers. The town is quite isolated - there is no railway, and you will travel on the only road into town. Once you have reached your finish line you should definitely walk on the ice of the sea - it is a rare experience!

The Journey

From To Distance KM Cumulative KMs
Cape Town Ceres 119 119
Ceres Sutherland 198 317
Sutherland Fraserburg 108 425
Fraserburg Carnarvon 136 561
Carnarvon Prieska 166 727
Prieska Schmidtsdrift 182 909
Schmidtsdrift Vryburg 230 1139
Vryburg Mahikeng 159 1298
Mahikeng Gaborone 151 1449
Gaborone Mahalapye 196 1645
Mahalapye Francistown 237 1882
Francistown Bulawayo 191 2073
Bulawayo Gweru 162 2235
Gweru Harare 262 2497
Harare Mutoko 142 2639
Mutoko Tete 239 2878
Tete Furancungo 169 3047
Furancungo Lilongwe 161 3208
Lilongwe Kasungu 123 3331
Kasungu Vwaza Wildlife Reserve 240 3571
Vwaza Wildlife Reserve Muyombe 82 3653
Muyombe Chitipa 118 3771
Chitipa Mbeya 129 3900
Mbeya Rungwa 293 4193
Rungwa Tabora 266 4459
Tabora Kahama 155 4614
Kahama Biharamulo 224 4838
Biharamulo Kemondo 150 4988
Kemondo Masaka 172 5160
Masaka Kampala 128 5288
Kampala Karuma  256 5544
Karuma Nimule 178 5722
Nimule Juba 193 5915
Juba Yirol 302 6217
Yirol Wau 339 6556
Wau Gogrial 101 6657
Gogrial Sudan Border 291 6948
Sudan Border Dilling 295 7243
Dilling El Obeid 146 7389
El Obeid Khartoum 412 7801
Khartoum Merowe 433 8234
Merowe Dongola 183 8417
Dongola Abri 220 8637
Abri Wadi Halfa 174 8811
Wadi Halfa Aswan  356 9167
Aswan  Sohag 374 9541
Sohag Asyut 87 9628
Asyut Beni Suef 243 9871
Beni Suef Cairo 119 9990
Cairo Ismailia 123 10113
Ismailia Rafah 231 10344
Rafah Jerusalem 132 10476
Jerusalem Amman 89 10565
Amman Damascus 199 10764
Damascas Homs 181 10945
Homs Aleppo 191 11136
Aleppo Gaziantep 112 11248
Gaziantep Sanliurfa 140 11388
Sanliurfa Diyarbakir 174 11562
Diyarbakir Erzurum 311 11873
Erzurum Gole 183 12056
Gole Abastumani 152 12208
Abastumani Zugdidi 185 12393
Zugdidi Sochi 252 12645
Sochi Tuapse 110 12755
Tuapse Kropotkin 253 13008
Kropotkin Kotelnikovo 356 13364
Kotelnikovo Volgograd 186 13550
Volgograd Kamyshin 187 13737
Kamyshin Saratov 187 13924
Saratov Samara 412 14336
Samara Oktyabrsky 271 14607
Oktyabrsky Ufa 188 14795
Ufa National Park Zyuratkul 214 15009
National Park Zuratkul Chelyabinsk 203 15212
Chelyabinsk Kurgan 266 15478
Kurgan Petropavl 266 15744
Petropavl Omsk 284 16028
Omsk Tatarsk 174 16202
Tatarsk Barabinsk 161 16363
Barabinsk Novosibirsk 312 16675
Novosibirsk Kemerovo 241 16916
Kemerovo Achinsk 353 17269
Achinsk Krasnoyarsk 175 17444
Krasnoyarsk Kansk 220 17664
Kansk Tayshet 163 17827
Tayshet Bratsk 291 18118
Bratsk Ilim River 172 18290
Illm River Ust-Kut 159 18449
Ust-Kut Severobaykalsk 331 18780
Severobaykalsk Novy Uoyan 182 18962
Novy Uoyan Vitim  295 19257
Vitim  Chara 190 19447
Chara 3 way junction 132 19579
3 way junction Lopcha 320 19899
Lopcha Tynda 186 20085
Tynda Neryungri 201 20286
Neryungri Aldan 267 20553
Aldan Amga River 180 20733
Amga River Yakutsk 329 21062
Yakutsk Khandyga 385 21447
Khandyga Road of Bones 280 21727
Road of Bones Ust-Nera 279 22006
Ust-Nera Susuman 347 22353
Susuman Ust-Omchug 283 22636
Ust-Omchug Magadan  264 22900

Did you know

  • This map was created by Reddit user cbz3000, who drew it up on Google Maps in 2019. Many others then picked it apart to ensure there were no ferries or boats. As such, we can’t take the credit for this one. The actual journey is yet to be conquered; no one has physically completed the longest continuous walk in the world. Besides politics and visa restrictions, anyone who attempted it would need exceptional skills to tackle the constantly changing terrain, turmoil and temperatures.
  • Stretching across Africa, Asia and Europe, the route would hypothetically take 572 days to cover if you walked 5km per hour for 8 hours a day ….. every day.
  • By adding in Africa as part of this map, Run The World now covers 5 of the 7 continents.
  • The route ascends a total of 117,693m and descends 117,686m –- the equivalent of 13 Mount Everests.
  • Traveling around the world is one thing; walking around it is a completely other story. Here are 4 people who, in one way or another, took the slow route: 

Dave Kunst was the very first (verified) person to complete an entire circuit of the earth on foot. Beginning in June 1970, Dave left on a journey that would take him across Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East and Europe. He walked 14,450 miles total in just over 4 years. 

Steven Newman – is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the first person to walk around the world solo. Steve crossed 20 countries and walked some 15,000 miles during his four-year journey. 

The official record of “first woman to walk around the world” was taken away from Ffyona Campbell when it emerged she “missed a few miles” of the journey during the USA leg of her trip. Nonetheless, she completed a walk of 20,000 miles, crossing the USA, Australia, Africa and Europe in the space of 11 years. She has since made up the distance missed in the USA, although she cannot reclaim her lost record 

From Tierra Del Fuego to the northernmost part of Alaska, George Meegan walked 19,019 miles in 2,425 days (1977-1983). He holds the record for the longest unbroken walk, the first and only walk to cover the entire western hemisphere, and the most degrees of latitude ever covered on foot.  

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