Running the Americas – Jamie Ramsay 

Jamie Ramsay had a good job but one that, despite promotions, did not fulfill him in any way.
“The more I resented my job, the more my life started to become unhappy. I realized I needed to make some changes and Running the Americas was that adventure,” he says.

His solo & unsupported adventure took him from Vancouver, Canada to Buenos Aires, Argentina, pushing all he needed (camping gear, cooker, food, water, clothes, shoes) in a baby stroller.

Jamie crossed Canada, USA, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Chile and Argentina before flying back to London where he had left 17 months before.

Although he had done no specific training, little logistically planning and no major sponsor, nothing could stop him.

“The most of my adventures I just turn up in a country with very little research and just making sure that I’m fit enough
and then just take on because if you’re fully planned for your next adventure it’s not really an adventure.
I like the unknown to be there.”
Jamie Ramsay

He navigated his way over the Sea of Cortez, around the infamous Darien Gap, through the Atacama Desert and across the Andes while overcoming loneliness, severe dehydration, food poisoning and an intestinal parasite.

During his run, Jamie was raising money and awareness for Macmillan, WaterAid and CALM.
Suicide is the single biggest killer of men under 45 in the UK and Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) works to help people feel empowered to share their experiences and get the help they need before they reach the point of crisis. “The reason I chose that charity was because I realized I was on a spiral and I found a way out and I a lot of other people don’t know there is a way out so it was trying to highlight that.”

These are the stats of his adventure:

Total distance – 17,000km
Total running days – 367
Pairs of shoes – 17
Average distance/day – 46.5
Longest day – 79km
Highest altitude – 4830m
Longest continuous stage – 28 days & 1575km (Argentina)

Since his leap into the unknown, Jamie has traveled the world running, climbing and trekking his way across some of the worlds most iconic places, from running across the Atacama Desert, cycling across a flooded Salar de Uyuni, reaching the summit of Aconcagua, and coming 3rd in the Cape Wrath Ultra despite nursing a sprained ankle.