This 73-year-old woman is running 6,000 miles from the U.K. to Nepal to raise money for charity
The legendary charity runner Rosie Swale Pope has jogged her way across Europe to Istanbul, Turkey, as she continues her 6,000-mile journey from Brighton in the U.K. to Kathmandu in Nepal.
The 73-year-old took on the challenge in an effort to raise support for a project to improve health, education and livelihoods of local communities in Nepal, which was struck by a devastating earthquake in 2015.
"It is not about just giving people food. It is about helping these talented people to grow their own food," she said as she jogged by the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia, the top tourist attractions in Istanbul.
Nepal is still working to rebuild after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake four and a half years ago that killed 9,000 people and destroyed nearly one million homes and other buildings.
Pope, a resident of Tenby, Wales, embarked on her journey to Kathmandu from Brighton, a town on the English Channel, in July 2018. Turkey is the 13th country she's jogged through. The Republic of Georgia is next on her itinerary.
She covers an average of 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) a day.
"I never know where I sleep every night. I sleep in fields. I sleep in the streets. I get up and run. I meet people I would never meet any other way," she said. She transports her belongings in a bright red cart that she tows behind her while she runs.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Rosie Swale Pope (@rosieswalepope) on
Recognized as the one of the world's longest solo runners, she ran around the world in 2004 to raise money for charity, and in 2015 she ran across the United States — from New York to San Francisco — to honor her late husband, Clive, who died from prostate cancer.
Her adventures also include sailing solo from the U.K. to the U.S. in a 17-foot boat.
She described herself as "just an ordinary person, and I am old," but she's made special connections all over the world. "I meet people I would never meet any other way and actually it is a way of giving more to life because I have more. You don't go out and you don't wait for the world to come to you," she said.