This climbing method of Murray (left) and Campbell is not one most people can pull off.
Andy Murray ended the British wait for a Wimbledon men’s singles title that lasted 77 years, and another Scot named Murray has also accomplished an incredible feat. Last Friday, 32-year-old Scotsman Andrew Murray and his companion Donnie Campbell summited Africa’s rooftop — Mount Kilimanjaro, reaching its peak at 5,895 meters above sea level. Most astonishingly, while it usually takes extreme adventurers 5–7 days to conquer Africa’s highest peak, these two men did it in just 7 hours and 16 minutes, making it the fastest recorded climb in history.
Special gear? None — just their legs
Murray and Campbell began their extreme journey last Friday morning. As Africa’s highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro is one of the very few mountains over 5,500 meters where you can reach the summit without ice-climbing equipment. But from base to summit, the mountain features a vertical array of vegetation zones. Murray and Campbell used no additional gear, just a backpack, and ran nearly the whole way through the equatorial rainforest zone, alpine meadow zone, even powering through the cold desert zone and alpine snow zone. Though they were essentially jogging, they chose the steepest and most treacherous route via the Western Breach — nearly a thousand meters of loose rocks and steep slopes, compounded by increasing altitude, made the climb extremely difficult.
“I felt like I was almost dying, it was incredibly hard to breathe, as if I was gasping for air through a straw,” Murray recalled. To save time, he and Campbell barely rested. “Luckily, the monkeys in the mountains didn’t steal the food from our packs.” When they reached the summit, the timer showed they had taken just 7 hours and 16 minutes, whereas an average climber would take 5–7 days for the same route. “Looking around at the summit, you see the Serengeti plains, Lake Manyara, and other peaks, and you realize all the hard work was worth it,” Murray said.
Retire after success? No way — next up, 17 more ultra-marathons
After reaching the summit, Murray and Campbell ran back down at astonishing speed. Who exactly are these guys? Why could they so effortlessly conquer the rooftop of Africa, something most people never achieve in their lifetime? Murray is now a sports researcher at the Scottish Institute of Sport. Born in Kenya, he grew up immersed in East Africa’s high-altitude long-distance running culture, giving him extraordinary endurance and running ability. In 2011, Murray ran from John o’ Groats in the UK all the way to the Sahara Desert — a total distance of 4,290 kilometers. Last year, he also won the Arctic Marathon and the Antarctic Ice Marathon. Murray once completed seven ultra-marathons on seven continents in just one week. Campbell, who is four years younger than Murray, is no less impressive — he is the Scottish champion in the 100-kilometer run.
Despite their extensive running experience, Murray and Campbell still prepared rigorously before tackling Mount Kilimanjaro, running 50 kilometers every day to build stamina and mental readiness. “Our feet felt like lawnmowers the whole way — exhausted but unable to stop,” Murray joked. He and his partner will continue their extreme adventure, planning to complete 17 consecutive ultra-marathons along the Kenya border in East Africa.