Photo courtesy of Rosie Swale-Pope
Escaping from a naked man with a gun. Running alongside a pack of wolves. Evading an axe-wielding man jumping out of a tree.
These might sound like scenes out of an action movie, albeit a strange one, but they are just some of the wild adventures Rosie Swale-Pope has experienced while on runs across various countries and around the world.
Rosie Swale-Pope speaks at the Heit Center on March 8 at 7 p.m. For more information, visit www.healthynewalbany.org.
New Albany residents will have the opportunity to hear Swale-Pope’s exhilarating experiences and engaging life lessons firsthand when she visits the Philip Heit Center for Healthy New Albany on March 8. Swale-Pope’s talk will urge listeners to try to make the most out of life, and will encourage the outlook that every day is an adventure, one that she says New Albany has embraced.
“I don’t care if I run 15 miles or 10 miles,” says Swale-Pope. “I really care about trying to just tell people to go crazy, to not just sit there (and) to not be afraid.”
Growing up, Swale-Pope says she was not a very good athlete. She was scolded by her physical education teachers for being too slow and finishing last.
The 70-year-old Switzerland native is the first to tell you that she’s not a fast runner. However, her love for adventure – nurtured by her grandmother, with whom she lived from ages 5-13 – led her to put aside that fact and set out to do what she loves.
In her early life, Swale-Pope accomplished a number of impressive feats. She sailed around the world with her first husband, Colin, and daughter, Eve. She was the fourth woman to sail in a small boat from England to the U.S., having to survive at one point without food and water for five days. Swale-Pope also rode across Chile on horseback.
Photo courtesy of Rosie Swale-Pope
It was after her Chilean trip that Swale-Pope began to embark on cross-country treks by foot. Though she had stayed in good shape from her previous travels, she knew pushing herself too far would not be a good idea. She says that she stresses building up endurance, and simply motivating oneself to start, when discussing with others how to get out and exercise.
“Say ‘I am doing it,’ not ‘I can,’” Swale-Pope says. “Just put your shoes on, or your boots on, step out the door and smell the fresh air. Walk fast for three minutes and then slow for one … and have a treat waiting for you when you get home.”
Since 1995, Swale-Pope has run in multiple marathons, including across the Sahara Desert, and she has trekked across multiple countries including Iceland, Romania and Cuba. She typically carries her own supplies with her, whether on her back or on a three-wheeled cart she pulls behind her.
In order to maintain proper energy and nutrition during her runs, Swale-Pope says she eats lots of protein and carbohydrates while attempting to eat foods that are “not too over-processed.” As for her mental state while running, she says looking up at the stars and imagining her family helps her through difficult stretches.
Photo courtesy of Rosie Swale-Pope
Starting in 2002, Swale-Pope embarked on a run around the world that would culminate on Aug. 25, 2008. She gained the inspiration for the journey after her second husband, Clive, died of prostate cancer, and she decided to do it to raise money for prostate cancer awareness and an orphanage in Kitezh, Russia.
Swale-Pope recently finished a run across America, which began in New York and finished in San Francisco. She has begun writing a book about the trek, tentatively titled Two Footsteps and 4,800 Dreams, in which she details all of the people she met on her solo journey across the States.
“It taught me more than any other run before,” she says. “I’m humbled by them.”
Swale-Pope hopes the book – along with her other titles about her journeys through blazing heat – freezing cold and foreign wilderness, will resonate not only with runners, but with anyone who needs extra motivation to truly live life to the fullest.
“I don’t do it to prove it how strong I am or test my limits,” Swale-Pope says. “Do it (for) love and joy and for some purpose, whether that is to help others or to help yourself.”
Zachary Konno is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at adeperro@cityscenemediagroup.com.
