Rosie Swale-Pope, MBE, born on 2 October 1946, is a British author, adventurer, and marathon runner whose life story reads like a catalogue of some of the most demanding and daring feats attempted by any individual. Best known for her five-year run around the world—which raised £250,000 for a charity supporting orphaned children in Russia and also highlighted the importance of early diagnosis of prostate cancer. She has also sailed solo across the Atlantic in a tiny boat and trekked 3,000 miles across Chile on horseback. Her achievements, extraordinary in scope and stamina, reflect a lifetime of resilience shaped by early hardship, personal loss, and an unshakeable commitment to helping others.Rosie was born Rosie Griffin in Davos, Switzerland. Her childhood was shaped by circumstances far beyond her control. As a young girl, she took care of four orphaned donkeys, seven goats, and a cow named Cleopatra. At the age of five, Rosie’s father remarried, and Rosie continued to stay with her grandmother. She spent her days riding across the countryside on her black horse, Columbine, and her grandmother’s strong religious beliefs meant Rosie was schooled at home. Her lessons consisted mainly of writing about her daily experiences, something that would later become invaluable training for her career as a travel writer.At eighteen, she began her first job as a reporter for the Surrey Advertiser, though she soon left to hitch-hike across Delhi, Nepal, and Russia with almost no money or baggage. In her early twenties she married Colin Swale, and the couple lived in a small London flat before buying a 30-foot catamaran, the Anneliese—named after Rosie’s sister. They sailed it to Italy, where her son James was born on board.
Rosie’s first major expedition came in 1971, when she, Colin, and their daughter Eve set off from Gibraltar to sail around the world on the Anneliese. Sponsored in part by the Daily Mail and ITN, the family sailed 30,000 miles across the Atlantic, through the Panama Canal, and across the Pacific, stopping at the Galapagos, the Marquesas, Tahiti, and Tonga before reaching Australia. They became the first catamaran crew to round Cape Horn. The journey was fraught with danger, including Rosie falling overboard 900 miles from land, a medical emergency, and severe food poisoning. Navigating only with a Spitfire compass, charts, and a sextant, they succeeded, and Rosie even wrote two books—Rosie Darling and Children of Cape Horn—during the voyage.Read more: Cyclone Ditwah nears Tamil Nadu–Puducherry Coast; flights cancelled, alerts issuedHer next major adventure came in 1983, when she sailed solo across the Atlantic in a 17-foot cutter named Fiesta Girl. She aimed to become the fourth woman to make such a voyage while also raising funds for a CAT scanner for London’s Royal Marsden Hospital. Nearly run down by an oil tanker, becalmed without food and water, and swept overboard in storms, she nonetheless succeeded, arriving in Staten Island after 70 days at sea.Soon after, she undertook a 3,000-mile trek through Chile on horseback, riding two Chilean Aculeos horses named Hornero and Jolgorio. With the protection of General César Mendoza for the first stage, she faced desert sandstorms, broken ribs, starvation in rain forests, and severe weather delays. Planned for four months, the trek took fourteen, ending when she reached Cape Horn in September 1985. Her experiences became the book Back to Cape Horn.Read more: UK, Great Britain and England — What’s the difference?Rosie’s endurance on foot began with her 1987 walk around Wales, covering 1,375 miles with her husband Clive supporting her. She ran her first London Marathon in 1995, calling it her most memorable sporting moment. In 1997 she ran the Marathon des Sables—243 kilometres across the Sahara—carrying all her supplies in a rucksack. She repeated the run in 2000, the same year she completed runs through Romania and the Balkans, where she was even held at gunpoint before escaping to Albania. In 1999 she ran 1,000 miles solo across Iceland, from the Arctic Circle to Reykjavík. She also completed the famous 90-km Comrades Marathon in South Africa, earning a bronze medal.In 2001, Rosie ran 1,360 miles across Cuba, often running marathon distances daily and completing the Havana Marathon en route. Her Cardiff Marathon run in 2002 was especially personal, completed shortly after her husband Clive’s death from prostate cancer. In 2003, she ran 1,700 kilometres across Nepal in 68 days, setting a world record and raising funds for a rural health camp.
Her greatest challenge began after Clive’s death. On her 57th birthday—2 October 2003—Rosie set out from Tenby to run around the world. Pulling a small cart containing food and basic supplies, she ran unsupported across the northern hemisphere. She reached Moscow in 2004, Magadan in 2005, endured the Alaskan winter, crossed Canada, and arrived in New York City on 2 October 2007. Along the way she faced wolves, a naked man with a gun, frostbite, illness near Lake Baikal, and a severe fall in Iceland that left her with broken ribs and a cracked hip. After ferrying to Scotland in 2008, she ran back to Tenby—despite stress fractures in both legs—completing 32,000 kilometres. Her book Just a Little Run Around the World recounts the journey.Rosie continued running afterward: 236 miles across Ireland in 2009, and 3,371 miles across America in 2015. She has received numerous honours, including an MBE, and serves as a patron of PHASE Worldwide, supporting remote Himalayan communities.Rosie Swale-Pope’s life is a record of determination, courage, and the belief that one person’s effort can change lives. Her adventures, grounded in hardship and hope, continue to inspire people around the world.
