Rosie Swale-Pope MBE talks at Queen's

In the second of Queen's College's season of Spring Lectures, adventurer Rosie Swale-Pope MBE inspired and enthralled an enthusiastic audience with her often-amusing tales of endurance, courage and determination. Amongst her achievements she has sailed the Atlantic single-handed and run 26 marathons in 26 days.

Rosie had flown into the UK for the evening from France where she is currently running from Paris to Rome.

Widowed in her late 50s, Rosie embarked on her greatest challenge, a "Run around the World" to raise money for cancer charities and to raise awareness about the importance of early diagnosis. Circumnavigating the world through Siberia, Alaska, Canada and Greenland, she had to endure camping in temperatures as low as -62°c.

In covering some 21,000 miles in 1,789 days through dense forest and snow-covered Arctic plains, Rosie had many adventures that she recounted to her captivated audience; being woken by a wolf in her tent, run over by a bus and suffering broken ribs and a fractured hip ...to mention just a few.

Despite the dangers and hardships faced on her astonishing trek, she paid tribute to the many acts of simple human kindness that she witnessed in some of the most remote places on earth.

The concluding message to her talk was simple but profound:

“There's nothing special about me - anyone can do anything.”

Rosie will return to Queen's in the summer as special guest and speaker at the school's Speech Day.