Ffyona Campbell

Ffyona Campbell (born 1967) is a British long-distance walker who was the first woman to walk around the world. She covered 32,000 km (20,000 miles) over 11 years and raised £120,000 for charity. She wrote about her experience in a series of three books.

Early life

Born in 1967, Naval tradition was a strong influence on the family. During her childhood and early teens the Campbells moved home 24 times – which resulted in Ffyona attending 15 schools. In the book, "Feet of Clay" a diary of her walk across Australia, she tells of the lack of a permanent base and long-lasting friendships, and the desire for the praise and approval of her disapproving father.

After leaving school at 16, she raised the necessary sponsorship to enable her to walk from John O’Groats to Lands End. On completion of that first walk she called her Father to tell him of her achievement. His typical response was, "When are you going to stop swanning around and get a job?"Ffyona Campbell, "Feet of Clay: On Foot Through Australia", Firebird Distributing (publishers), 1999]

The journey

She started at the age of 16 in John o' Groats (close to Dunnet Head, the northernmost point of mainland Scotland) in August 1983 and walked to Land's End the southernmost location in England.

At 18, she set off from New York crossing the United States towards Los Angeles. The relationship with her support crew was volatile, and the schedule to coincide with the sponsors' - Campbell's - public relations events en route was demanding. She became pregnant by one of her support team, Brian Noel, which slowed her progress, and she decided to accept lifts in her support vehicle in order to meet commitments. She later terminated the pregnancy and completed the journey.

At 21 she walked the 5,100 km (3,200 miles) from Sydney to Perth in 95 days, breaking the men's record for this journey.

On 2 April 1991, she left Cape Town, South Africa, covering over 16,000 km (10,000 miles) before arriving in Tangiers, Morocco on 1 September 1993. When an uprising occurred in Zaire, she was forced to abandon her Land Rover back-up vehicle, replacing it with a hand cart, and was joined by her ex-boyfriend, British survival expert Ray Mears, for personal protection.

In April 1994, she left Algeciras, Spain and walked through Europe, arriving in Britain at Dover. She then completed the last 1,300 km (800 miles) walking from Dover back to John o' Groats, arriving on 14 October 1994. She was shadowed by a BBC film crew and presenter Janet Street-Porter, the mutual antipathy making for uncomfortable viewing.

Campbell raised half the amount for charity in one go by selling the advertising space on her forehead to Vaseline during her well-publicised return. [http://www.newstatesman.com/200207220010 New Statesman - Gone, and (almost) completely forgotten ] ]

Controversy

In Autumn 1996, consumed with guilt, in her 3rd book Campbell admitted taking lifts from her support team for convert|1000|mi|km of the American leg of the walk after she became pregnant. She subsequently returned to walk this section.

Her request for the record to be removed from the Guinness Book of Records was refused, because she had remained within the rules, which allow breaks for illness and war, and in any case had broken the world record for the longest walk leaving out the distance before she restarted.

Life since

After her achievements she was praised by then British prime minister, John Major for being a role model, and was castigated by the media. Subsequently she suffered a period of depression and became an art student.

Books

*"The Whole Story". ISBN 0-7528-0988-1
*"On Foot Through Africa". ISBN 1-85797-946-X
*"Feet of Clay: On Foot Through Australia". ISBN 0-434-10692-5

ee also

Other people who have or are attempting to walk or run around the world include: Karl Bushby, Dave Kunst, Jesper Olsen, Colin Skinner and Rosie Swale-Pope.

Notes

References

*"The Whole Story". ISBN 0-7528-0988-1
*"On Foot Through Africa". ISBN 1-85797-946-X
*"Feet of Clay". ISBN 0-434-10692-5
* [http://www.newstatesman.com/200207220010 "Gone, and (almost) completely forgotten"] New Statesman, 22 July 2002
* [http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/515635 "The Longest Walk"] , BBC 1994
* [http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/514193 "The Longest Walk: The Mule and I"] , BBC 1994

Persondata
NAME = Campbell, Ffyona
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = British woman who was the first woman to walk around the world.
DATE OF BIRTH = 1967
PLACE OF BIRTH =
DATE OF DEATH =
PLACE OF DEATH =