Olympians’ daughter running the length of Britain, barefoot
"If it feels bonkers, that is definitely the right level of challenge"
Endurance athlete Anna McNuff, 34, is several hundred kilometres into journey of 100 marathons from Scotland’s Shetland Isles to London, running barefoot all the way and occasionally posting videos to her YouTube channel. McNuff is an ambassador for Girlguiding UK, and embarked on her Barefoot Britain journey, as she’s dubbed it, to inspire people to do things they’re not sure they can actually do.
✨A NEW ADVENTURE!✨
??♀️?? Starting June 2nd this year I’ll be attempting to run 2,620 miles (100 marathons) through Britain – barefoot.??
I’ll be talking in @Girlguiding units along the way, encouraging young women to reach for the impossible. https://t.co/CSFniHmAOJ pic.twitter.com/Ej95REvJSM
— Anna McNuff (@AnnaMcNuff) March 18, 2019
The point, for McNuff, who sports a shock of pink hair, is not to complete the run by a certain date, but to enjoy the journey, and the growth that it will inevitably bring. She was fairly certain she could accomplish it in running shoes, but she wasn’t sure if she could do it barefoot, which was the point–to push herself outside the bounds of what she knew she could do, and thus inspire others (especially young women) to push themselves in a similar way.
McNuff’s parents are Ian and Sue McNuff, both rowers who competed at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, where Ian won a bronze medal. Daughter Anna grew up thinking that everyone had Olympic medals displayed in their living room, and she became an elite-level rower herself. Then she realized it wasn’t really what she wanted. So she got a regular job, but that wasn’t what she wanted, either.
What McNuff really wanted was to set out on unusual adventures, by bike and on foot. So in 2013 she cycled across the US. Then she dreamed about running adventures, but running had never been her main sport, and she didn’t think she could run every day without becoming injured. But after reading Christopher McDougall’s Born to Run, which describes the ability of the Tarahumara people of Mexico to run great distances barefoot, she got inspired, and decided to run the length of New Zealand’s two islands, completely unsupported, with all her gear on her back. She described it in a 2016 TED-X talk:
On the current journey, McNuff is relying on the kindness of strangers to put her up for the night by issuing a call on social media, and so far they have come through in spades. Her gear is in one bag, which gets passed from host to host, since it’s too heavy for her to run with. Occasionally the road surfaces have been quite inhospitable, sharp stones digging into her soles. But for McNuff it’s all part of the deal.
Live track Anna (and her mojo) as they leave Cullen today, on a mission for more ice cream.
TRACKER ??https://t.co/qy1J6bAmvl@TheAA_Careers #ReadyForANYTHING pic.twitter.com/kv8dS8zdPb
— Anna McNuff (@AnnaMcNuff) July 3, 2019
In her latest tweet this morning, McNuff was in Cullen, in northern Scotland, taking in some spectacular scenery and some Scottish ice cream.
You can learn more about her journey and follow her progress here.
Check out the latest buyer's guide:
