ANYONE who saw a pink-haired runner on the streets of Evesham last week may have had to do a double-take when they saw she had no shoes on!
However, they were not mistaken as adventurer Anna McNuff has been running the length of Britain barefoot and her route took her through the town last Thursday.
She began her journey on the Shetland Islands in June and has so far run more than 1,500 miles down through Scotland, the north of England, Northern Ireland, Wales and into the Midlands.
Her aim is to cover 2,620 miles (the equivalent of 100 marathons) before reaching the finish line in London at the end of November.
During the journey she has had to run through all weathers, battle with illness and has been nursing a cut foot after treading on some mirror in Leicester.
As a proud ambassador of UK Girl Guiding, she is using the journey to promote the Girl Guiding movement and has been speaking to girls about the joys of adventure and the great outdoors.
While in Worcestershire, she spoke to more than 100 girl guides, brownies and rainbows at Pershore High School.
Anna explained her reason for taking on this huge challenge: “Adventures are about a quest for growth. I figure that if I’m going to stand in front of young girls around the UK and encourage them to take on challenges that they believe to be just beyond their reach, then I have to be on that journey too.”
Various members of Evesham Vale Running Club joined her during her barefoot run from Stratford to Elmley Castle to help with navigation, providing food to keep her going and keeping an eye out for hazards like broken glass and gravel.
Anna now has another six weeks left to go before she can finally put her feet up. You can follow her journey at www.annamcnuff.com/barefootbritain.
