10 inspirational women in adventure
If you read my post 10 awesome outdoor adventure films to keep you inspired, you’ll know I spent much of the start to 2024 hunkering down. I was struggling with energy and didn’t have the same drive to get outdoors. But, still craving adventure, these films plugged a gap.
My armchair adventuring also extended to reading some incredible books from female adventurers. I cycled around the world. I ran across mountain ranges. And, I travelled through the length of New Zealand. All solo endeavours.
I’ve been inspired many times over. So, I thought I’d share some of the badass outdoor adventuring women I’ve been coming across.
But, before doing that, I want to add that many of my female friends inspire me every single day. I’m also connected on social media with others spending time in the great outdoors. So, enjoy reading about the ten women below, but always remember to look closer to home too.
Jenny Tough
Jenny Tough is known for running and cycling in endurance events worldwide. She describes herself as an adventurer, writer, and film maker.
In her book - and film - Solo, she runs solo and unsupported across remote mountain ranges on six continents. She describes the highs and lows; exhaustion, altitude sickness, and food poisoning. Despite growing evidence to the contrary, she still struggled with her own limitations and imposter syndrome. I found it an inspirational story about overcoming physical and mental challenges.
Watch Solo on YouTube
Read the book Solo
Jenny was also diagnosed with RED-S (relative energy deficiency in sport) and told she had an eating disorder. In 2022, Jenny and endurance athlete Emily Chappell spoke openly about their struggles with body image. Watch their story on the video below.
Anna McNuff
Anna McNuff is a British endurance athlete, running, swimming, and cycling the world one adventure at a time.
In 2019, she ran the distance of 90 marathons in the UK - barefoot! She’s also cycled in the Andes and the 50 US States. In 2015, she ran the length of New Zealand solo and unsupported. Her book, The Pants of Perspective, shares this story with open honesty about the struggles she faced. I loved it.
Anna’s YouTube channel has a series of short videos about her Barefoot Britain adventure.
Amira the Wanderlust
Amira Patel founded The Wanderlust Women during lockdown. Her aim was to create a space for Muslim Women to connect and enjoy the outdoors.
The Wanderlust Women have an inspiring Instagram account. Thousands of women have now joined the group which offers hiking adventures, worldwide expeditions, and UK retreats. Amira herself lives in the Lake District and is training to be a mountain leader.
Filmmaker Frit Tam created a film about the group which you can watch below. But also check out The Wanderlust Women website for more videos.
Beth Rodden
When she was younger, Beth Rodden was renowned for hard, single pitch climbing routes. She established the hardest first ascent of a crack climb ever done by a woman and became known for big wall climbing. In 2000, she was kidnapped while on a climbing trip in Kyrgyzstan.
Over the years, her story has changed with motherhood and coming to terms with her changing body. Her story is one of drive, perfectionism, and honest rawness. I can’t wait for her book, A Light Through the Cracks, to be published later this year, talking about overcoming trauma and beginning to heal.
Read A Light Through the Cracks
Watch This is Beth via ReelRock
Jenny Graham
Scottish filmmaker and writer, Jenny Graham has a passion for adventure. Many of her cycling films were hosted on GCN+ which sadly no longer exists but you can still find some on the Global Cycling Network YouTube channel.
In 2018, Jenny did an unsupported circumnavigation of the world by bike. She completed it in 124 days, 10 hours, 50 minutes, putting herself in the Guinness Book of Records.
Her book, Coffee First, Then the World talks about her challenge. It shares the story of near road collisions in Russia, weather extremes in Australia, and wildlife encounters in North America. She often slept in drains underneath roads, and met incredible people along the way.
Rosie Swale Pope
I mentioned Rosie Swale Pope in a roundup a few years ago about some of my favourite outdoor adventure books written by women. Aged 57 and following her husband’s death from cancer, she set off to run around the world. What followed was an incredible story spanning five years, with Rosie pulling a cart containing her belongings and sleeping system.
The book was published in 2009, so you may think Rosie has now hung up her running shoes to settle down for a quiet life in front of a warm fire.
But no! Aged 74, Rosie set off on a new 6,000 mile challenge. She’s running from the UK to Kathmandu in Nepal, raising money for PHASE Worldwide. But she also wants to show the world that age is not a barrier when it comes to achieving your dreams.
Lael Wilcox
Born and raised in Alaska, Lael Wilcox is an ultra-endurance bike rider and racer. She holds the women’s records in the Tour Divide and Trans Am. Her website also has impressive timeline of achievements.
This year, she’s setting her sights on a new challenge. In summer 2024, she’ll attempt to break Jenny Graham’s Around the World cycling record, aiming to do it in 110 days.
Lael has set up a cycling mentorship programme (GRIT - Girls Riding Into Tomorrow) in Alaska and Tuscon. She also features in lots of videos, hoping to encourage women to get out on their own adventures.
Nicky Spinks
Nicky Spinks is a fell running legend with a huge list of achievements. She’s held records for all the three Big Rounds in the UK. The Bob Graham Round (Lake District), Paddy Buckley Round (Wales), and Charlie Ramsey Round (Scotland) are classed as three of the most difficult 24-hour challenges in the world.
Nicky was also the first person to run doubles of all three rounds. In 2019, she was the joint last woman standing at the brutal Barkley Marathons in America - see the video below for more. Nicky is a breast cancer survivor and, over the years, has raised thousands for cancer charities.
Watch Run Forever: The film of Nicky Spinks and The Double Bob Graham
Karen Darke
Karen Darke became paralysed at age 21 following a climbing accident on a Scottish sea cliff. But that hasn’t stopped her living a life full of adventure.
She competed for 10 years in the GB Paracycling Team, winning a silver medal in the 2012 London Paralympics and a gold medal in Rio 2016. She’s written three books and been on adventures all over the world.
In 2023, she climbed Kilimanjaro by handbike and, in February 2024 went on a cycling journey through southern India. She’s also climbed on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. I could list more - go check Karen’s website and take a look!
Watch From Beginning to Winning: Karen Darke’s Paralympic Journey
Read Karen’s books
Lee Craigie
Lee Craigie is a former professional mountain bike racer and is a Director of The Adventure Syndicate. She’s also the official representative for walking, cycling, and physical activity across Scotland. In 2023, Lee won the Scottish Award for Excellence in Mountain Culture.
Lee founded the Adventure Syndicate in 2016 as a not-for-profit organisation showing alternative female role models and bringing together female adventurers of all ages. One of their activities is arranging gatherings of women and girls, focused on outdoor adventure.
Lee has done countless endurance cycling challenges. She’s also made an award winning film about racing the Tour Divide and written a book called Other Ways to Win.
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Outdoor-Girl is run by Jacquie Budd, an outdoor adventure and marketing content writer for brands that care about their impact on people and the planet.