Longest journey around the world -world record
set by Rosie Swale Pope
[June
21] EDINBURGH, Scotland,UK-- The 61-year-old Rosie Swale
Pope, who travelled 32,000km (20,000miles) across 12 countries,
arrived in Scrabster in the north of Scotland, setting the
world record for the Longest around the world journey.
Photo:
Rosie
Swale-Pope wore out 45 pairs of shoes in more than
240 weeks of running on a trek around the world that began
after the death of her husband in 2003 from pancreatic cancer.
She said the adventure began as a way to raise awareness for
the disease.
(enlarge
photo)
Rosie Swale-Pope is also the first person to
travel around the world both by sailing and on foot.
Swale-Pope
is no stranger to adventure, having achieved fame in 1970
as a round-the-world yachtswoman. She is set now to become
the first person to both sail and run around the world.
In
a worldwide loop starting and finishing in Wales, Pope covered
the maximum possible distance on land. Her trip took her to
Holland, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, the United
States, Canada, Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands in
the North Atlantic Ocean.
She was completely self-sufficient, carried all
her possessions in a cart attached to her waist, and camped
almost every night in a tiny tent by the side of the road.
Rosie,
61, shot to fame as a yatchswoman in the 1970s when she sailed
through the tropics naked with first husband Colin Swale and
daughter Eve. Their son James was born during the voyage.
With no back-up team and only a small amount of
funding, she traversed the planet pulling a cart containing
provisions and camped at the side of the road after each day
of running.
The purpose of my journey has been to highlight
the preciousness of life, she said. I had to do something
and this was a small thing really just putting one foot
in front of the other.
She has overcome broken ribs, double pneumonia
and a breast cancer scare during her journey. She was nearly
swept to her death in a river in Siberia and battled frostbite
in temperatures of minus 62C in Alaska. On the plus side,
she also had to decline 29 marriage proposals on the way.
The mother of two children and grandmother of
two said she plans to write a book about her experiences during
her journey, which include being followed by wolves, receiving
29 marriage proposals, and being invited to speak on The Martha
Stewart Show.
Her many marriage proposals were probably from
men who fancied the cart, not me, she joked. I think most
of them were simply because I looked strong and handy for
hauling logs and things. I had nine in Poland alone.
A lifelong adventurer, Rosie completed the Round
The World yacht race in the 1970s, giving birth to her son
along the way and causing a stir by sailing naked through
the Tropics.
Rosie, who was also championing the cause of
Russian orphans, arrived in Scrabster, north Scotland.
She will run another 1,000 miles before she goes
back to her home in Tenby, West Wales, August 25- 1,789 days
after she began her journey in October 2003.
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