Anna McNuff started to run barefoot after witnessing people in New Zealand doing it – and decided to give it a go herself.
A female adventurer and former GB rower, who claims to have been “feral” as a child, has shared her plans to run 2,620 miles across the length of the UK, completely barefoot.
A Girl Guides ambassador and motivational speaker, Gloucester-based Anna McNuff, 34 – whose parents also rowed for Great Britain in the Olympics – has been running extreme distances across the world since 2013 – but usually in top-of-the range £100 Brooks sports shoes.
Her barefoot epiphany came during a 2015 trip to New Zealand, when she ran 1,911 miles across the country over 148 days and, inspired by the number of barefoot runners she encountered, after 1,000 miles kicked off her shoes.
A tomboy through and through growing up, she immediately fell into the barefoot running groove, saying: “I was a little bit feral as a child and used to like running around with grazed knees and muddy feet.
“I was always mucking in with my brothers and the boys at school – I think it was only when I was about 20 that I realised I was female!
“My instinct had always been not to wear shoes and I remember my mum always telling me to put them on.”
She continued: “Now, while I’m not a barefoot evangelist, I love it and it has made such an impact on my running style.”
Despite her love of going shoeless as a youngster, growing older, Anna began to conform.
But, inspired by her New Zealand trip, she said: “People there are much happier to run and play sport barefoot, so I thought to myself, ‘Why am I wearing trainers when our feet are built to be free?'”
On returning to the home she shares with her partner Jamie McDonald, 32, a fellow adventurer and motivational speaker, she continued to jog barefoot.
Now, speaking of her next UK running challenge, which will take from June to November, she said: “Feet are amazing, complex machines with over 7,000 nerve endings in each sole and 26 bones in each foot.
“So, in this adventure I’m looking to see if I can coax my feet into doing what they were truly built to do, after a lifetime of being squidged up in shoes.”
Despite her rowing coach mum Sue, 62, and consultant dad Ian, 62, being incredibly sporty, Anna – who has two brothers, accountant Jonty, 32, and project manager Jamie, 36, – recalls her mother’s displeasure at her barefoot antics as a child.
Anna laughed: “In typical mothering fashion, she was always telling me to put some shoes on and keep my feet warm in case I caught a cold.”
A GB rower, although not an Olympian, Anna stopped competing aged 23 and went to work in marketing before getting the sporting itch again and setting off to cycle 11,000 miles around America in 2013.
Since then, her love of adventure has only grown and has seen her complete some ambitious escapades, like a cycle along the Andes mountains and running the 86-mile length of Hadrian’s Wall dressed as a Roman soldier.
Anna, who earns a living giving motivational talks to companies and schoolchildren, then set her sights on running across New Zealand – where she finally freed her feet.
She explained: “It was really liberating to realise that I didn’t have to wear trainers and that this was a way of exercising that people in other parts of the world actually did.”
In England, she graduated her descent into barefoot running, working down from trainers, to shoes, to socks and finally daring to go bare.
Even the inevitable – and often unpleasant – hazards she has encountered have not put her off.
She continued: “I have occasionally stepped on broken glass and in dog mess. But that’s all part of the experience and you pretty quickly grow hard callouses and thick skin on the bottom of your feet.”
Not everyone understands her running style, however, and she has received everything from snide comments to strangers offering to give her their shoes.
She said: “It took a little while to rebalance my muscles and there were times, at first, when I’d stagger home after running barefoot.
“It feels great now, though. I am lighter on my toes, my joints are under less strain and my thigh and calf muscles have become a lot more toned.
She added: “As for my feet – they’re like panther paws!”
In June, Anna will be starting her next mammoth challenge in the Shetland Islands and will finish in London – covering the distance of a full marathon most days for 155 days.
“I think it’s something I know I would be able to do wearing shoes, but going barefoot will be a real challenge – which makes it all the more exciting,” said Anna, who is encouraging others to join her at various stages along the way.
She continued: “I admit it’s pretty daunting, too, and I’m terrified that some sort of showstopper event will happen along the way that may prevent me from running.”
But Anna, who will be speaking at girl guiding units along the way, hopes to encourage girls to push themselves beyond their comfort zones.
“The world has become very sanitised these days and people are wrapped up in cotton wool,” she said.
She concluded: “I’m not saying that everyone should be like me and run around with no shoes on, but sometimes doing things that are a little unusual and which stand outside societal norms are the most rewarding of all.”
NEW YORK (AP) — Abdi Nageeye and Sheila Chepkirui used strong kicks in the final mile to pull away from their nearest competitors and both win the New York City Marathon for the first time Sunday.
Nageeye, who became the first runner from the Netherlands to win the men's race, was step-for-step with 2022 champion Evans Chebet before using a burst of speed heading into Central Park for the final time to come away with the win in 2 hours, 7 minutes, 39 seconds. Chebet finished 6 seconds behind.
“At the finish I was like, am I’m dreaming? I won New York,” Nageeye said.
He had run the New York race three times before with his best finish coming in 2022, when he was third.
“I know the course,” Nageeye said. “Today was two things: survive that race and my race is after 36 (kilometers; 22 miles). I was thinking like a cyclist, survive 36K and you’re going to win.”
Chepkirui was running New York for the first time and pulled away from defending champion Hellen Obiri in the women's race in the last stretch.
“Let me push the last mile, let me give it my best,” the Kenyan said. "When we were around 600 meters to go, I said to myself I have to push harder. When I saw Hellen wasn’t coming, I knew I was going to win and was so happy.”
Chepkirui, who started to run marathons in 2022, won in 2:24.35. Obiri finished nearly 15 seconds behind.
Obiri was looking to be the first consecutive champion since Mary Keitany of Kenya won three in a row from 2014-16. Vivian Cheruiyot of Kenya finished third, giving the African nation the top three spots.
Tamirat Tola, the men's defending champion and Paris Olympic gold medalist, finished fourth, right behind Albert Korir.
“I had a good year,” Tola told The Associated Press through a translator. “I won the Olympics and then to come back to New York after that, you know it's a tough course. I know that I expended a lot of energy. Around the 33-kilometer mark I felt my muscle tighten and my muscles just couldn't handle it.”
Tola, who set the course record last year, was looking to be the first back-to-back men's champion since Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya won in 2011 and 2013. The 2012 race was canceled because of Superstorm Sandy.
The top Americans finished sixth in both races. Conner Mantz led the men and Sara Vaughn the women. Vaughn was in the lead group heading into Mile 20 when they entered the Bronx before she dropped off the lead pack.
Vaughn was geared up to run Chicago before COVID-19 kept her from competing in that race. She was a late addition to this marathon.
The day got started with an upset in the men's wheelchair race as three-time defending champion Marcel Hug was beaten by Daniel Romanchuk, who also won in 2018 and 2019. Susannah Scaroni won the women’s wheelchair race. It was her second victory in New York, also taking the 2022 race and giving Americans winners in both events — the first time that has happened.
The 26.2-mile (42.2-kilometer) course took runners through all five boroughs of New York, starting in Staten Island and ending in Central Park. This is the 48th year the race has been in all five boroughs. Before that, the route was completely in Central Park when it began in 1970. The first race had only 55 finishers while more than 50,000 competed this year.
A few hours after the top runners finished, it was announced that the Sydney Marathon would become the seventh world major marathon, joining Berlin, Chicago, Boston, Tokyo, London and New York.
The weather was perfect to run in with temperatures in the lower 40s when the race started. Last year, it was 61 degrees when the race started.
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
Abdi Nageeye, of the Netherlands, crosses the finish line to win the men's division of the New York City Marathon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Kenya's Sheila Chepkirui smiles after winning the women's division of the New York City Marathon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Runners cross the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge at the start of the New York City Marathon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Women's division winner Sheila Chepkirui, right, poses with men's divsion winner Abdi Nageeye, of the Netherlands, during the New York City Marathon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Abdi Nageeye, of the Netherlands, right, runs to crosses the finish line to win the men's division of the New York City Marathon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
Abdi Nageeye, of the Netherlands, poses after winning the men's division of the New York City Marathon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Abdi Nageeye, of the Netherlands, crosses the finish line to win the men's division of the New York City Marathon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Kenya's Sheila Chepkirui crosses the finish line to win the women's division of the New York City Marathon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Kenya's Sheila Chepkirui crosses the finish line to win the women's division of the New York City Marathon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Abdi Nageeye, of the Netherlands, crosses the finish line to win the men's division of the New York City Marathon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Susannah Scaroni crosses poses for photographs after winning the women's wheelchair division of the New York City Marathon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
First place finisher Daniel Romanchuck, left, poses with second place finisher David Weir, of England, and Tomoki Zuzuki, of Japan, right, after winning the men's wheelchair division of the New York City Marathon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Yuma Morii, of Japan, center, makes his way across the Verrazzano Narrows bridge with the elite men's division runners during the New York City Marathon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Yuma Morii, of Japan, right, makes his way across the Verrazzano Narrows bridge with the elite men's division runners during the New York City Marathon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Yuma Morii, right center, of Japan, makes his way onto the Verrazzano Narrows bridge with runners in the men's elite division make their way from the start line during the New York City Marathon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
Yuma Morii, left, of Japan, makes his way onto the Verrazzano Narrows bridge with runners in the men's elite division make their way from the start line during the New York City Marathon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
Yuma Morii, right center, of Japan, makes his way onto the Verrazzano Narrows bridge with runners in the men's elite division make their way from the start line during the New York City Marathon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
Runners in the men's elite division make their way through the Brooklyn borough during the New York City Marathon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
Runners in the men's elite division make their way through the Brooklyn borough during the New York City Marathon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
Runners in the men's elite division make their way through the Brooklyn borough during the New York City Marathon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
Runners in the men's elite division make their way through the Brooklyn borough during the New York City Marathon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
Yuma Morii, right, of Japan, makes his way onto the Verrazzano Narrows bridge with runners in the men's elite division make their way from the start line during the New York City Marathon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
Yuma Morii, of Japan, right, makes his way across the Verrazzano Narrows bridge with the elite men's division runners during the New York City Marathon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in New York.(AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
Runners in the men's elite division make their way through the Brooklyn borough during the New York City Marathon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
