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When I ran, I ran for pleasure. I didn't run for times, to win, to impress: I ran for me. When I ran my bum cheeks rubbed together, so much so that if I was going on a long run I'd have to 'lube up'. I maintained that I was not a 'real' runner - I just liked to run so that I could eat cake.
Anna was never anything like those 'real' runners on telly - all spindly limbs, tiny shorts and split times - but when she read about New Zealand's 3,000-kilometre-long Te Araroa Trail, she began to wonder… perhaps being a 'real' runner was overrated. Maybe she could just run it anyway?
Travelling alone through New Zealand's backcountry for 148 days, she scrambled through forests, along ridge-lines, over mountain passes, along beaches and across swollen rivers. Running up to 52 kilometres in a day, she slept wild most nights, and was taken into the homes and hearts of the kiwi people in between.
The Pants of Perspective is a witty, colourful and at times painfully raw account of a journey to the edge of what a woman believes herself to be capable of. It is a coming-of-age story which will lead you on a roller coaster ride through fear, vulnerability, courage and failure. For anyone who has ever dreamt of taking on a great challenge, but felt too afraid to begin - this story is for you.
About the author
Anna McNuff is an adventurer, speaker, bestselling author and self-confessed mischief maker. Named by the Guardian as one of the top female adventurers of our time, Condé Nast Traveller included her in a list of the 50 most influential travellers in the world. She is the UK ambassador for Girl Guiding and has run, swum and cycled over 20,000 miles across the globe. She is best known for her most recent adventure, in which she set off to run 2,620 miles (100 marathons) through Great Britain... in bare feet.
