The Ghanaian who walked 300 miles across Ghana | A conversation with Tim Swain

[00:00:00] I'm not doing enough. And so I literally have to block out all of these things and say, Tim, what is the pathway that you're supposed to be on? You, not nobody else, but you. So literally the way I'm talking to you is the way I had to talk to myself, man.

[00:00:16] Hey guys, I'm Adrian from The Sound of Accra Podcast. This is the show where we spotlight guardian entrepreneurs, creators, founders, and business executives. It's good to have Tim Swain back on the show. If you watched or listened to season three, that was my first interview with Tim Swain. He also interviewed me during the time as well. I think this was early 2022. And yeah, it was good to hear about what he's done in Ghana since relocating from America.

[00:00:44] But the reason why I wanted to bring him back on the show is that, of course, it's always good to, you know, catch up and get an update with previous guests to keep the relationship going. But also he made a bold statement. He said he's going to run 400 miles across Ghana. Of course, things had to change. And I think he brought it down to 300, which is still something that I probably couldn't do. It's a massive achievement. And, you know, I was just following kind of like his journey on social media.

[00:01:14] I'm saying where he was setting out to do this so that you could, you know, set up 20 water wells. Is it 20 water wells? That was the aim? Just 10 water wells across Ghana, as well as helping to raise funds for youth that we bring to Ghana and some youth programs that are already in Ghana.

[00:01:34] Yeah. Wow. Wow. Yeah. So this run essentially across Ghana was going to be, you know, the thing that allows all these other things to happen. How did that make you feel? Was there a pressure? Actually, before we do that, how are you doing, Tim? Yeah. It's good to have you back on the show. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. It's been a minute since we last connected. Yeah. I'm doing well. Listen, I'm in good health.

[00:02:00] Yeah. Listen, family's okay. Ghana is Ghana. You know, Ghana is Ghana. Ghana is Ghana. But, you know, for me, I'm doing well, man. It's good to see you. That's great to see you, man. I'm the same Ghana, different president. You're now a Ghanaian citizen as well. That is correct. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You're Ghanaian citizen. I don't have to call you African-American. I'm not going to just call you Ghanaian and that's it. Sure. Sure. Sure, man. But yeah, honestly, I think you're doing some great things. And, you know, you've been in Ghana for a while, way before Ghana was even trending.

[00:02:29] And you've always been, you know, passionate about the country, about our country. Yeah. So I want to go straight into running across Ghana. It's quite interesting you did that because I think when you announced that, I think maybe during the same time or just before you made that announcement, I think the hardest geezer, the British guy, he ran across the circumference of Africa. Were you aware of that? Was it a coincidence? Was it inspiration?

[00:02:56] No. So actually, someone told me about I forgot the gentleman's name, but someone told me about that, like literally way after. So really, the idea came from about five years ago. I had like long story short, I was like, listen, I need to look at where I want to be in five years and what are some things I want to do? And I remember, you know, just reading a few books and listening to podcasts and they talked about, you know, just set some ridiculously big, audacious goals.

[00:03:24] Yeah. So one of the goals on my list from like five years ago was I want to run like I want to do like a ultra, ultra, ultra like like run that just in my mind, I cannot conceive myself doing. So it was something on my list for a long time. And then in 2023, at the end of 2023, my admin at the time, like it was on my list. And I had been talking about it for like six months. And she was like, in so many words, she was like, listen, Tim, we've been talking about this for a while.

[00:03:52] Are we going to do something or not? So basically either put up or shut up. And I said, you know what, I don't want it to be something that's just about me going out there and saying, hey, look what I can do. But how can I how can I marry this to something that I'm also passionate about, which is like impacting communities and making a difference with with the talents and gifts and abilities that God has given me. And so really, that's how the idea started. It was I want to do something big and audacious.

[00:04:19] And then let me utilize this as a platform to help people in the process. So so yeah, so that's how it started. Powerful. And I think he's only right because someone like yourself, you know, social impacts a big part of your life. Yeah. So I think to do that, I think it's going to make it more meaningful. It's going to add purpose to, you know, the actual activity. It's like, let's say, for example, Vita London, the watch brand. Yeah.

[00:04:42] How every time someone buys a watch, it contributes to someone, you know, buying school uniform in Ghana or other African countries or building schools in Ghana, African countries. And then you've got Pencils for Promise, which does something similar. So I think it's it's important to be able to always link passion to purpose. Yeah. And this is exactly what you set out to do. Yeah. So the round took place. Was it in December? Yeah. So we it took place December.

[00:05:11] We started officially on the 16th of December. The 15th was like the kickoff ceremony. And so it started from Salaga. So for those who are just now watching this, they may not be familiar with Ghana. Salaga is in the northern part of Ghana. And we started specifically at Salaga Slave Market, which was the historically the largest slave market in Ghana during that time, particularly during like the transatlantic time. Yeah.

[00:05:36] And we decided to start there just because of the history of the place, because you had so many Africans that were enslaved. And that's where they started their journey. The difference is, right, their journey was one that didn't come with the conveniences that mine had. But it was a journey to new places, new territories. And they had no idea whether or not they would return. So we started there. It was 300 miles or about 500 kilometers.

[00:06:03] And we went through like the Ashanti region. And then we ended at Elmina Castle because, you know, that's like the coast. So, you know, it started at Salaga. And then from there, and then we ended at Elmina, which is, you know, along the coast of Ghana. So, yeah. Wow. That's amazing. So I feel like it's great that you also picked certain landmarks to start and finish the race.

[00:06:28] Like, I think it also helps to kind of like teach people history at the same time, makes it a bit more memorable, makes it more special. Rather than just, oh, I'm trying to run 400 miles from here, from wherever to wherever. I think it makes it more, you know, special. So I think how you did that was quite thoughtful. Yeah. Thank you. I mean, it was definitely intentional. You know, it took a lot of planning. Like the people, people don't understand.

[00:06:52] You don't, well, you can get out and do something, but seldom do you see things that are done at, you know, any kind of level of above average that don't take planning. So we took about 10 months of planning. Ooh. Like I had a whole team. Wow. Yeah. So, and so it, I had a project manager. Project manager. I have a project manager. Yes. I had a pro, you know, you got to have somebody who's handling the day to day. So I had a project manager. I had an admin.

[00:07:21] Like this is the whole team from start to finish. So I worked with a project manager, had a little bit of PR help, admins, designers, social media manager, onsite folks during that time. And the thing that I love most about the team was everybody came from the diaspora. So I was able to, to assemble a team with people that were really good at what they did. And everybody came from the diaspora. I think it had to be because I mean, no offense to Garnetians.

[00:07:49] I think depending on you, you get, you know, they may not be, you know, as organized as people from the diaspora. But we had, but we had. So when I say the diaspora, I'm saying like within continental Africa and outside. So about 90% of my team were Garnetians. Woo. Yes. Garnet and diasporans. Not even that. People who are continental. Okay. And even people who I knew that were here, they maybe live outside. Maybe they left out, but they were still kind of like from. Yeah. Yeah. So I think it could help.

[00:08:18] So, I mean, it was, I mean, that's the thing, you know, because over the years I've been able to meet some people who are really good at what they do. Yeah. And then be able to, you know, give those people an opportunity to shine in what they do. But yeah, I mean, it was great. I mean, like we also stopped at another place called Asim Manso, which was the last bath that the Africans took before they walked another like 70 kilometers or 40 miles to the castle to be sold. And like for me, it was more than just like this slave walk. Right.

[00:08:45] Because I think sometimes we focus only on one dimension of history. We act like we focus on this, but we also don't take the time to appreciate where we are. So that's where the fundraising element came in. Because for me, working with youth, like I see the eyes of Ghana, the eyes of Africa, the eyes of the world through people who see it differently. So it was looking at and appreciating and recognizing the past while really setting our framework and our thoughts towards the future.

[00:09:15] So that's where the two came in. But, you know, Ghana has so much rich history here that a lot of times we don't even know who are inside the country. And then definitely when you go outside, like there's just so much like rich history that's like living here. I'm telling you, it is. Yeah. It is. That's why I think when tourists come here, there's just so much. The country offers so much for them. Wow. A whole team, you know, for this project. Yeah. Wow. And a lot of money. Oh my God. Oh my gosh. Yeah.

[00:09:43] But hopefully funds that were raised help to kind of cover some of the costs, right? Yeah. So we're in the process right now. We decided to, we didn't meet the original goals that we wanted to meet. So right now we're in the process of revamping because we're still raising funds to execute some of the projects. Right now we're probably focusing more so on the projects that are here in Ghana, which is the Walter Wells and then the youth programs.

[00:10:09] Um, because we have, with my NGO, my nonprofit organization, we have a way to kind of raise funds for the other part. Um, and so we're still in the process of raising funds because in 2025, I want to be able to, for, I want to be able to just continue to work in a foundation that we've laid. Right. And I'm so grateful for everybody that invested, you know, people invested $5, people invested, you know, all the way, you know, thousands. And, and, um, and so I'm really, really, really grateful.

[00:10:38] And I want those people to understand that, uh, right now we are trying to make sure that we maximize every penny that you've invested so that we can, you know, make the impact that we, that we set out to make. That's amazing. And I feel like, you know, it just shows you the power of the internet, the power of social media, how everyone was able to put their hands into their pockets, whether it's $5, $5,000 and just contribute to this great cause. And how much were you able to raise in the end? Are you able to share some kind of, um, some, some kind of. Yeah. Yeah. I can.

[00:11:07] I can say that from our original goals, we, we were really under, uh, no, we probably raised about realistically about 10% of what our original goals were. Um, and so that's why right now we're in the process of kind of re-strategizing to see how can we, um, again, create another game plan to maximize awareness, uh, so that we can meet some of the goals that we had, um, you know, in partnership with my nonprofit organization. Perfect.

[00:11:36] Is that Andy.so 360? Yeah. Andy.so 360. Yeah. Which means hope. Wonderful. Yeah. Wonderful. I remember that. Yeah. Wow. Okay, cool. So when you did this, this run, had you ever run the marathon or any kind of athletics before? Yeah. So it was, um, I realized that I needed to do like for me to do like this long distance, I had to do a walk, but I mean, I've been running for a long time, man. Like I love running.

[00:12:00] Uh, but the longest distance I've ever done at one time, I think the longest distance was, um, it was probably just about like maybe like 35 miles or like, that's probably like 55 K or something like that. It was like 60 kilometers. Yeah. Um, but then it was like, I did that and then I ain't, I ain't do nothing else for like two weeks. So this was like doing that every day over and over and over again.

[00:12:25] And I'll tell you like, you know, this is why it's so important to like, um, I'll talk about planning. Like I'm a big on like, you got a plan, you got a plan, you got a plan. But the first day I was so excited that I forgot about my plan, which is like stretching, resting, water, all of that. Like I just had so much energy. And because the first day we were in, like, again, we were going from Salaga to, uh, the nearest town. I forgot the name, but there was a, like a bridge we had to cross. So we had to take the ferry. Yeah. So like my mom was on like, and you know, Ghana.

[00:12:55] So like, it's not like the ferries are coming like every five minutes. It was like, if you don't catch this one, the next one may not come until like night. So I was like, I have to get on this ferry by the time it arrives. And so I didn't listen to none of my plans that I made. And the second day, so I did, I think that day we did about, um, I think it was around 50, 55 K. I didn't take, I only took one break to stretch, just being not sticking to the plan.

[00:13:22] The second day I was in so much pain. Like literally when I woke up the second day, I couldn't move. Yeah. I said, God, if like literally, I was like talking to God. I said, God, literally, if you don't. And I was looking at how long we had to go. I was like, God, listen, if you don't help me get through this, ain't no way to do it. So the second day from the time I started till I finished, like I would say on a scale of one through 10, I was probably like in a level seven, eight pain. Wow. On the first, second day. Second day, man.

[00:13:52] So the third day I took a break and I was like, okay, now I got to re-strategize. And like, I was on YouTube looking, cause I was like, which part of the body is connected to the front of the foot and then the bottom. And like, cause I was trying to figure out like the pieces of my body, there's so much pain. So anyway, YouTube is amazing, man. Thank God for YouTube. YouTube and like internet articles. So, okay. So I changed my strategy, like wrapping my legs and my feet and all other kinds of stuff. I even changed like my walking pattern.

[00:14:19] So like, if you see some of the videos, it looks like kind of like where a woman walks like this, like that's how I'm walking because I'm in so much pain. Cause like, I'm trying to let my heel land on a certain place. Uh, but anyway, like I changed up the strategy and then by like the third day, we had a strategy. Boom. Morning time. We go this much distance. We take a break for this amount of time. We take this kind of nutrition. We go for this amount of time. We take a break. We go this amount of time. We take up. So by the third day, it was clockwork.

[00:14:48] Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. It was clockwork every day. From there onwards, did you were able to maintain that? Yeah. Was it 30 miles a day? Yeah. So it was about 30. The maximum was 30. Yeah. 30 a day. Yeah. 30 a day. Um, and then we tapered off towards the end to like 20, 20, maybe 20, 25 a day. And then like towards the last, the last day was only just like 10. Wow. Yeah. Cause the last day I wanted to end early and, um, you know, just, yeah.

[00:15:16] Cause it took, it took about my average pace was once I got into the groove, it was about, uh, let me see. I'm trying to calculate it miles and kilometers. Cause you know, you got people all over watching. Um, so it was about 10 miles every three hours. So about 3.3 miles an hour. Or let me say like a 6k an hour. Cause I was walking. Yeah. So you walked mostly. Oh no. 99. No, the a hundred percent was walking. Okay. Because there's no way I would have been able to finish within the timeframe. I needed running. Yeah.

[00:15:45] Like short distance. If we're talking about like a 21k. Yeah. Definitely. You can run a whole thing. I can run a whole thing, but like 500k. Yeah. Nah, man. I'll still be out there right now if I was running. Yeah. Cause my body's, listen, my body ain't what it used to be. Yeah. Cause you have to just pace yourself a bit. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And recuperation would have took like recoup time would have taken so much more longer if I was running. Cause you know, it's just so much like you're pounding your knees and it's just, it's a lot. Yeah. It's done. That's what you learned from the first day, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:16:14] I mean, it was, um, cause like even now, like I'm not fully recovered. Like I was in a gym, I was in a gym yesterday and, um, like normally there are certain stretches I can do. And I tried to do certain stretches and like, I'm still not fully recovered. Like I was outside playing with my son and actually we were actually right out here. So we was running around this court right here. Yeah. And, and it was, and this was just like 30 minutes. Yeah. Like just almost nothing. Yeah. And by the end I was like, God damn, like I'm in, I'm in pain again, but you know, you work it out, you keep it moving. It's all good. Yeah.

[00:16:43] I think, um, it makes, it makes me respect athletes like footballers or, you know, sprinters, long distance runners a lot more because they have to go through a long time of conditioning their bodies. Yeah. Eating the right amounts, eating the right amount. But when you think about it, you know how you said you have a team team? Yeah. Yeah. These guys, they've got even more of a team. They've got scientists. Exactly. Exactly. Nutritionists, physical. So, so that's the thing. Like, like I have a friend that I work with and he, he does professional running.

[00:17:11] So like he does like 50 Ks, whatever, whatever, whatever. And we were talking, man, he has a nutritionist. He has a very specific doctor that he goes to, right? That focuses on athletic training and, you know, athletes and stuff. And the thing is, you cannot make it to a high level of anything without having like experts. That's the thing I realized because like I, in a perfect world, I really would have had

[00:17:36] a dietician and I would have had like a physical therapist, like slash trainer, like somebody who knows, oh, you're feeling pain in this part of your body. This is what this muscle is called. It's connected to this. You've been putting too much pressure here. Let's wrap it like this. Try this tomorrow. See if this works. I was just on YouTube, like, but you know, by the grace of God, man, I figured it out, you know? And, you know, but yeah, they have a whole team. So when you think about like professional, professional, professional athletes, like those

[00:18:02] guys who are long distance runners, who are running like a 21 K in like less than like an hour or something. It's crazy. Yeah. And the pace that they're going as well. Yeah. Like it's literally like mind boggling. Like for some of these dudes who are running like a 5K in like 12 minutes, a 5K in like 12 minutes. Yeah. It's crazy. I think on TV or the internet, it makes it look a lot easier than it actually is. Yeah. So you're like, oh, I can do that. No.

[00:18:29] I remember my first, I remember when I used to compete in athletic championships in London and I think. Like running? Yeah. Running. Yeah. I'm more like a hundred meter sprinter. Okay. Okay. There's one, I decided to, you know, opt into like a single 400 meter. Yeah. Once I started the race sprinting for some reason. And then I was like, yeah, I'm going to leave. What if you're keeping them past me? I was like, oh, you have to train. You have to train. That's when I realized that that's not how it works. I felt like an idiot.

[00:18:58] But it just shows you it's not easy as I think it is. Yeah. Wow. But you know, it's like life, man. It's like, the truth is for me, I remember my first like marathon that I ran and I hated running. Actually, I used to hate running. Now I love running. I used to hate it. But somebody challenged me and I remember it was a woman at my job and I used to work in Austin, Texas at Austin Community College. And she challenged me and she wrote down a game plan for training on like just a piece of scrap paper.

[00:19:27] And I remember it was like just the training process was so simple. And I remember like the first time I ran maybe like five minutes nonstop. And I felt like that was a victory. You know what I'm saying? And then after that, of course, you go more and more and more and more and more. And I did my first race. And I was like, yo, I love this. But I'm done. And then you know how it is. You get the bug. So I did another one, another, another, another, another one. And I think like I learned so much throughout the process. I think one of the biggest things I learned as I was walking is like you have to really

[00:19:57] settle what you can do for you. Yes. Because to be very honest, I'm developing a mini documentary that's telling more of the story. But I wanted to talk more about like my thought process because I saw so many other people go through this thought process, whether they're professional athletes or just a common person who's not a professional athlete, just trying to do something different, which is there's so much self-doubt that comes in. Yeah. Like in my mind, I was comparing myself so much to like all these different people.

[00:20:23] Now, keep in mind, I'm doing a walk across Ghana, right? West Africa. Yeah. 500 kilometers. Yeah. In the hottest time of the year. And I'm like, man, it's not enough. I'm not doing enough. Oh, I'm not. I'm not. Like, and so I literally have to block out all of these things and say, Tim, what is the pathway that you're supposed to be on? You, not nobody else, but you. So literally the way I'm talking to you is the way I had to talk to myself, man.

[00:20:52] And I got really encouraged because when I was listening to this, I forgot who it was, but I think she was the first woman to break a full marathon in under a certain amount of time. Like one of those crazy, super ridiculous athletes. And I remember her talking about, she said, this is what I think about when I'm inside the race. And I was like, yo, that's crazy. Because what she was talking about was you can't do this. You're not good enough. Like she's running, breaking historical records, bro.

[00:21:18] And her mind, she has to overcome this self-talk of, you can't do this. You're not good enough. You're not this. You're not that. And that made me realize, man, everybody goes through that. Everybody. The difference is how you silence those thoughts and then you focus on what you need to focus on. Wow. That is powerful. I think we all need to kind of talk to ourselves and encourage ourselves when we're going through, you know, these tough moments, because sometimes there's not going to be anyone to encourage us.

[00:21:47] We have to encourage us. Exactly. Exactly. We're all alone. It could be a race or it could be somewhere in a forest or on the jungle to get out of that situation or to accomplish that very thing. But it just shows you how mentality is a huge part of all of this. Yeah. The mindset. I think I remember listening to a podcast where I think it was Stephen Bartlett speaking to Chris Eubanks' son, the boxer. Chris Eubanks' son, basically.

[00:22:14] He was, I think he was going to go into one of his very first fights. And basically, I think the walk that the boxers take into the ring is so intimidating. And he said that once he got over that, like the rest was just history. But he said that very walk was so intimidating and it almost made him want to walk away. He kind of stuck for it, got into the ring. And he basically told himself, oh, if you didn't get into the ring and you walked away, like he would kind of count himself as a chicken. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:22:43] You know, like he's a scaredy cat or whatever. But once he kind of overcame that, he was able to kind of like fight and stuff. So the mindset is just a huge blocker. But once you overcome that mindset that you can't do things, it really kind of just pushes you over the line. Yeah. Mental training is really huge. Yeah. And before this walk across Ghana, I was at an event and I was talking to a woman who was

[00:23:08] like, you know, one of those world-breaking athletic people back in the day in her prime. And she talked about, she coaches now, she trains now, she talked about, she spends just as much time with her athletes on mental training as a physical part. Because for me, at least what I've realized, like in my own life, like when I was out there, like prior to the event, this is just being very candid. I'm one of those people who super analyzes things.

[00:23:36] And like my superpower is being critically analytical. My kryptonite is being critically analytical, right? So it's one and the same. And then, and I think learning how to develop habits of healthy thinking. Cause like I'm in Ghana. So it's not like you got this protection along the way. Like when I tell people on a, when I was doing these videos, that is literally a miracle. I didn't get hit by a car. Yeah. No, for real, for real. Because you know, you've been in Ghana. It's like the way we drive in Ghana. Oh my God. We drive as if we will live forever.

[00:24:05] And so like cars were coming so fast. And like, literally they were like this close. Dang it. Coming like zoom. Boom. And you know, I was like, God, if this car just accidentally swerved, I'd be out of here. But like, so I was thinking about all these crazy scenarios that can go wrong. Um, and then the thing is like, you go back to a place of settling in. Okay. What are all the things that can go well? What are all the things that can go right?

[00:24:33] And then once I finished it, it really physically hang on. Like it was, it was really difficult. Of course. But it wasn't as difficult as I thought it was. And maybe it's because I had been, I also trained for it too. Now I didn't just wake up. I was training like months for it, like walking, running long distances. Um, but it wasn't as difficult as I thought it was, you know? Cause I think preparation is the key, right? Preparation. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:24:59] I think once you've done all of the preparation, execution is probably easier in the preparation. So I think preparation is the harder bit. Once you, if you prepare really, really well for whatever you're doing, the execution almost becomes second nature. Yeah. It's like, uh, it's another prep session. Yeah. Yeah. It's another prep session. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's just the, the bi-product of the preparation. Wow. So how long did it take you to complete this thing? Over how many days? Yeah. So actually walking was 12 days. If you include the rest day, 13. Wow.

[00:25:29] Yeah. Wow. 12 days. Okay. And I saw that online, you had like a, such a van. Yeah. Yeah, we did. So yeah, I found this, this, uh, this woman who decided to create, um, like outdoor experiences. So she had this van here in Ghana. Um, so we, you know, contracted the van. We wrapped it with our marketing and stuff like that. So it had like a, uh, a bed inside of it. So that's what the team traveled in. Nice. Yeah. So the videographer and it came with a driver too.

[00:25:59] So the videographer and then the onsite kind of administrative help, they traveled in advance. So it basically just, you know, followed us throughout the whole journey, man. Beautiful. And where did you sleep? We slept in hotels. Okay. Yeah. So normally every day, cause the van didn't, the van was not equipped with washrooms or water. Okay. Of course. Yeah. Um, and so every day, basically, uh, the schedule was after we found our groove every day, the schedule was, we wake up. I normally wake up around 4am, um, do my routine in terms of wrapping, stretching, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

[00:26:27] Uh, we load the van up and then whatever place we stopped, we'll either go to that place or we'll go back right to that place because we were hotels, you know, and let's say we, we stopped at, you know, a drink or no, but we had to get a hotel in a Chessie or something or, um, Kineshi. Right. Yeah. Um, then you have to come back to the place you started. A little bit of a diversion, isn't it? Yeah. So we'll wake up, we'll do that. We'll start between 545 and six when the sun is out because we never did anything in dark just because we didn't have the safety, what we needed. Right. Makes sense.

[00:26:57] Uh, so we'll start when the sun is up first three hours. We take a break. We started normally around six, take a break at nine. Yeah. So from nine to nine 30, I eat breakfast, I stretch, take 10 minute nap. Then I start at a nine 30. Wow. From nine 30 to 12 30. Yeah. The admin will go and find housing for us and we'll project. Okay. Today we're going to project. We're going to end at this place. So they will go to the next town or the next two towns, find housing. They come back 12 30, take another break.

[00:27:26] Okay. Um, I normally didn't eat during that time. Maybe like some small fruits or something. Stretch, take a 10 minute nap. Uh, one o'clock. Wow. Start again. Wow. Another three hours. And then after that, boom, we're done. Go to the hotel, eat dinner, do whatever, whatever, whatever. Sleep, wake up. We do it again. Wow. So when we found our groove, man, everything had to work. Like everything worked really well once we found our groove. That's why you said it worked like a club club. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it's something where you found your groove whilst you were doing. Yes.

[00:27:56] Like you never had them before. Yeah. Because the first day you had to change. Yeah. You know, things were going to go. So your team didn't even plan the housing in advance. They just kind of found them as you were going. We, so we took two planning trips. The original trip was to just like find what's happening, right? Like where are the hospitals? Where are the clinics? Where are the hotels? But the thing is, you don't really know because like on one day you may do 30K, but then like the next day your body's like, nah fam, we're only going to do like 20K.

[00:28:26] So for me, and then, you know, like how it is through certain places of Ghana, like especially you go like further up north, housing is not as like, it's not everywhere. Yeah. Right. And then, you know, we didn't have like a super high standard for where we're going to stay. The basics were, do they have backup power? Is it clean? Yeah. Is there water? Yeah. And AC. Yeah. That's it. That was really the basics. The basics, yeah. And you wouldn't believe how many places didn't have those. I mean, yeah, you know, you know, right? So many places didn't have that.

[00:28:55] So we just, yeah. So we did those things and they know most of the housing and stuff was planned during the routes. And that's why I like doing like that second period where I was out walking. Yeah. So, I mean, most of the planning was done during that time. Okay. Yeah. Wow. That's amazing. So it just shows you how difficult this was. Like, like I never would have thought about that. Like having to scrub out. Basically, it's hospital in case this happens. Yeah.

[00:29:25] The housing meeting. So it's that. Yeah. Where geographically should house the position so that by this time you can come back to your roof. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And that's why you need to run. Wow. Yeah. It's a lot of planning, man. Your risk management, your, your, all of that stuff was a part of it. And that's why you need a team. Like imagining if you're doing this and it's just you by yourself. Like, and for me, I wanted to make sure that I could finish the race. Right.

[00:29:52] There's a scripture that talks about how, like, when you start the foundation, you have to count the costs. Yeah. Because if you don't finish, folks are going to ridicule and laugh at you. And it's not necessarily doing it to get people's approval, but it's thinking ahead. Right. So planning. It's as well. Yes. Right. So planning ahead. So for me, I wanted to make sure that I wanted to finish. That's why it was like, I'm not trying to do a bunch in one day to be like, look at me, I'm Superman. And I can, like, I want to be able to finish the journey.

[00:30:18] So let's do what we can do every single day, work on it and, uh, and do that. So like by the time, by the time we reached like maybe like two days out. Oh man, listen, that last day I had some, I had the same amount of energy on the last day as I had on the first day. Wow. Because you finally got a groove that worked for you and was able to allow your body to probably recover. Yeah. And I was just so excited to be done, man. And like the last day, you know, you're walking by the coast.

[00:30:48] Yeah. So you, you got, you're looking at the ocean and, you know, it's a different type of scenery versus being like, maybe like up North where it, it's just. Savannah. Yeah, man. It's just, it's just goats. Power of the desert. Yes. It's like goats and cows and chickens. Uh, then you come to the coast and you got more people and you got the ocean and this and this and this. And then the last day was only, you know, like 10 miles. So that was just like, that was nothing, you know? So it was like, you got all this energy.

[00:31:16] And then, um, and I, and I had a really, really, uh, special, um, ceremony at the end. So, uh, an amazing woman, man who said, you know, I see what you're doing and I want to, I want to be a part of it. And so she called. She didn't shout to you. Yeah. So I, so I met her. Um, she, she was actually a YouTube subscriber. Okay. And then we met at one of, one of the events here, um, in Ghana. She's like, yeah, I heard about what you're doing. You know what? You know, what are you doing afterwards? And I was like, I ain't got nothing planned. She's like, I'm going to plan something for you. I was like, okay, cool.

[00:31:45] So I put her in contact with, you know, the project, the project manager, uh, to handle everything. So towards the end of it, she hooked up this, uh, site visit with this, this kind of amazing couple that built a hotel there in Elmina. And then she took us to this place where basically when we got there, they took care of everything. It was a beachfront. Amazing. So shout out to, I think the Oasis bar there in Elmina. Um, amazing, amazing hospitality. The place aesthetically was dope.

[00:32:15] The food was great. They took care of everything. And, uh, yeah, man, we just, we, uh, yeah, we, we, we had a great time. And so I think running North to South as much as probably running South to North. Oh, no, I wouldn't have done that. No, I wouldn't have done that. I wouldn't have done that because you know, when you get down South, there's more like even just terms of food options. Yes, of course. Yeah. It's like, it's getting it. So was it, I have to ask you this. So was it like a thing where the more you got South, the more, the more you ran South, like

[00:32:46] amenities weren't accessible. Absolutely. Even things like, for example, like fresh fruits, you know, like you can get fresh fruits up North, but we're talking about access, right? Like it's much less accessible. But then when you start passing through like the Shanti region, uh, man, you can just go to the roadside anywhere and get your, your mango, your pineapple, your banana, your whatever, whatever. So we actually, before, before we, before we, um, started the journey, uh, one of the ladies

[00:33:14] that we work with on the ground, she is, she came from Kumasi. So we actually had her pack a bunch of coconut. Cause I drank a lot of coconut water. So like coconut water, like she packed coconuts, fruits and all that kind of stuff because we knew like the first few days, we're not going to have that in, in access, uh, or it'd be that stuff be accessible. Yeah. And so she also brought like a gas cooker. So she like, she cook food. So every day she was cooking breakfast. Wow. Um, yeah. So yeah, well for the whole team, you know, Yeah.

[00:33:44] Were you the only runner? You're the only runner. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. I can imagine there's another one, a whole number team. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, it was, uh, I mean, it was a lot of planning. Like, so I say shout out to the team because, you know, my project manager, she did an amazing job. Uh, I had known, I've been knowing her for like four, five, almost five years now. Beautiful. Yeah. Met her in Ghana and, uh, she worked with me previously. And then when I needed a project manager, I was like, yo, do you think you can do this? And I'm sure she told me later, she was like, nah, I don't think I can do this, but you know, I got news.

[00:34:14] Oh, I can do it. But, uh, but she actually did have the skillset to do it. So she did a great job. How many people on your team? Like from start to finish. Yeah. Just overall. Yeah. Yeah. I mean the core team, like the project manager, the project manager, there's an admin. I mean, we had contractors, you know, people like the, like the design, like the designer for the logo. Yeah. The social media person. Fantastic.

[00:34:38] Um, videographer that we did our initial, uh, video with the onsite videographer, the, and then the onsite admins. And then we contracted a little bit of help from PR. So totally everybody, it was probably about seven to eight people. Wow. Yeah. Wow. Just, just, just to accommodate you running. Yeah. Yeah. But also to capture the content and the moments as well. Yeah. Yeah. Which, you know, you can't relive those moments.

[00:35:08] Of course, like it's, I think it's important to capture the content. So you're going to have a documentary coming out at the same point. Yeah. Yeah. So right now we're collecting all the footage and the story really is about, it's about not just the walk. It's about the journey to get to Ghana. It's about the journey of really finding a deeper purpose and like trying to help and give back and make an impact. And also it's about like the mind state, right? Like what was happening mentally.

[00:35:34] And the idea is that I want this to connect with other people to know that, listen, I'm not some super duper person. Like I'm a dude from Houston, Texas. And, you know, and if I can do it, like, I want you to find your, find your special, whatever that is. If you're a painter, a real estate person, a plumber, whatever it is that you do, why not set a big audacious, scary goal? Like when you think about it, you're like, there's no way I can do this.

[00:36:01] And then match that with how can I use that to inspire and help somebody else? That will be the outcome. Like if that documentary, when that documentary is out, right? If it can help people to do that, that would be a win for me. Wow. Wow. I think that's the, that's the heart, this sort of thing. To leave others inspired, to impact others and to drive others to get involved in things like this. Yeah. This has been powerful conversation, Tim.

[00:36:31] What lessons did you take from this whole experience? What things did you appreciate the most as you went through this journey? I think the biggest lesson I learned is the importance of proper planning. And that's not to say I did it well. I mean, when you have a budget, you got to stick to the budget. You got to be realistic. If you got $5, don't be like, I hope I'm going to get 10 and then you start spending 10.

[00:37:01] Don't do that. If you got $5, you only spend $4. Be conservative. Be conservative. You have to do that. And you got to, and you got to, you got to plan for the, you got to, what is it? Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, expect the unexpected situation. The other thing I realized is the most important thing is no matter what you're doing, if you're going to be successful, that you have to have a team. All this self-made nonsense, nobody's self-made because everything we know, we've learned from somebody. 100%.

[00:37:28] And we can't be afraid to invest in people who are good at what they do to help them. Help us. Like, don't cut corners and get the ranky jank, whatever, like invest in the best of the best. And I think the last thing that I learned was I learned that you really can do whatever you want to do as long as you count the cost and you kind of go from there. Beautiful. Wow. Tim, it's been a fantastic conversation.

[00:37:57] I'm really inspired by this journey to offense. It's made me realize that this wasn't just, oh, let me just run across Ghana. Like this was a whole thing that had a lot of moving parts associated with it that needed to help many people to make it happen and to allow you to finish that and cross that finishing line. Yeah. Thank you for doing this for Ghana. Thank you for inspiring us as usual. And to you listeners out there or watchers out there, I hope you get inspired by what Tim has done.

[00:38:28] And hopefully if you want to have such an initiative like this, I'm sure Tim will be able to kind of maybe, you know, support you and maybe give you some advice and maybe be able to see other initiatives like this because of what Tim has done. So, Tim, I'm sure we'll probably see the impact of what you've done a lot more down the line in terms of the months and the years to come than we are seeing right now. So, once again, man, it's been great speaking to you. Yeah. Thank you. Thanks for having me, man. What was the last one? Before we go, what was the craziest?

[00:38:56] What was the worst moment that you went through? Was there like one specific moment there? So, there's something crazy that happened like a leopard jump out of the bush or something. I don't know. A leopard. Listen, if a leopard jumped out of the bush in Ghana, then I'd be like, whoa. Especially if, you know, man, the craziest moment, maybe, okay, maybe a funny moment was when we were, the first day when we were crossing the ferry. Yeah. And you know how Ghana is. You see how the way we load tro-tros, right? You stuff everything in the tro-tro.

[00:39:26] So, now imagine this is a ferry. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Is it going to sink like tights, I think? Man, listen. So, our admin, she was very scared. Ooh. Because she was looking at, because, you know, you've seen those big, like, trucks that carry, like, the big load. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. The overload. Yes. So, imagine you see all this stuff, like, loading onto the ferry. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. I'll be like, I'm getting my shit. And we're, like, this close. Give me my life jacket. Yeah. We're, like, this close on the ferry. Like, everybody, like, you can't, like, move freely on the ferry.

[00:39:56] Yeah. So, you see everybody packed in. And then I'm looking at my admin. Like, I keep looking up at her. So, she's looking. And, like, and they're calling more trucks. And you're, like, oh, my, how many trucks are they going to load? So, we thought at one point, like, man, is this going to be a story on CTV where, and today, people have drowned in the, you know, the such and such river because it was overloaded. Yeah. It was, it was, I was like, God, if we just get over this water, then we'll be cool. But, yeah, that was probably one of the craziest moments.

[00:40:26] Wow. Okay, cool. You're here today, so. Yeah. Yeah. We made it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You crossed the River Jordan or. Yeah. God paved the waters for you. Yeah. I'm telling you, man. Oh, the way they were loading that thing, you were like. Oh, my gosh. For a boat. Maybe, no. Cars and stuff like that. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Wow. Thank you, Tim. Absolutely. Thank you for coming on. So, yeah, where can people learn more about, is it Blackstar 400?

[00:40:54] Yes, blackstar400.com or my socials. I'm sure you'll put some of the socials there in the description. But, yeah, you can follow the journey at Blackstar 400 or you can just follow my person. You can follow the journey through me, Tim Swain. All of my socials are the same thing, Tim Swain, and you find me. Perfect. Tim, thank you so much for your time. Really, really appreciate it. Yeah, absolutely. It's been great catching up with you. Once again, congratulations. Thank you, man. I appreciate it. Being a running citizen. Thanks, man. And also, congratulations for, you know, completing this challenge. Yeah, absolutely.

[00:41:23] I haven't even done a marathon myself. I think the one time I tried to do a marathon, I had a breakfast fry up in a morning. And I abandoned the marathon like two miles later. So, yeah, I've got so much more to do to get to your level. But thank you, Tim. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. So, there you have it, guys. Tim Swain, you know, he's the founder of Blackstar 400. You're the founder, right? Sure. Yeah, yeah. There we go. He's the founder of Blackstar 400 and other organizations, which we'll link in the description below.

[00:41:53] I hope you're inspired, impacted by this episode. Let us know what you think in the comments below if you're watching YouTube. Drop us an email, info at the sound of crowd.com. If you want more information, if you want more content like this, please subscribe to YouTube at the sound of crowd.com. Visit our website, the sound of crowd.com. Thank you so much, guys. We're out. We're hungry. Firstly, peace. Take care.