11 inspiring people from 11 years of Escape: Anna Mcnuff

When we first started Escape the City back in 2010, we had no idea how many incredibly inspiring people we'd meet along the way. We set out to help ambitious and talented people to do work that matters to them and the world, and through the years we've encountered thousands of people who demonstrate that it's possible to do something different with your career and make a difference in the process. While it was hard to choose just 11 stories, here we've outlined a few of the people who we come back to regularly when we're looking for a bit of inspiration ourselves.

We hope you enjoy reading their stories and that they can be an inspiration to you, too!

Anna Mcnuff - The adventure queen

About Anna:

The daughter of two Olympian’s Anna grew up in a family where the pursuit of physical and mental excellence was encouraged. Seeing the respect and admiration that her parents received led to her harbouring ambitions from an early age to be an Olympian herself.

As a middle sibling sandwiched between two brothers, Anna could often be found down the local BMX track, up to her armpits in mud or playing football in the local boys’ team. Growing up, she simply did what the boys did because it’s all she knew. By aged 16 she’d moved on from football, and taken up the sport of rowing, where she went on to represent Great Britain. During her time in the Great Britain squad, Anna became a World Champion at the University Games in 2006, and won a Bronze medal at the 2007 European Championships.

Dogged by injury in her twenties, she made the difficult decision to retire from the sport and to let go of her Olympic dream. She wanted to embark on a new life as an adventurer, to dart around the world on the hunt for new and exciting endurance challenges but she had to figure out a way to make it happen. In the meantime, Anna McNuff found herself in a very “normal” job, working in an office 9 to 5 and felt completely unfulfilled.

One day, whilst sitting at her desk and having a tedious fight with a PowerPoint presentation, Anna felt the urge to throw her computer out the window. Anna thought – “Is this me? Is this really everything that I have to give to the world?” It was time to go on a huge adventure.

Anna made the decision to ride a pink bicycle (which she named ‘Boudica’) 11,000 miles through every single state of the US

She had no idea how to plan an adventure and was completely terrified about sleeping in the wild by herself. But she had this grand idea and couldn’t possibly think of anything else.

In 2013 she wheeled her way, solo and unassisted, 11,000 miles through each and every state of the USA. She visited schools along the route and raised £11,000 for Global Charity Right To Play. 

For 2015 she switched to a simpler mode of transport and spent 5 and 1/2 months running 1,911 miles along New Zealand’s Te Araroa trail. Unsupported and with all her worldly possessions in a 14kg backpack. She visited local schools en route and raised £7,000 for The Outward Bound Trust – to give kids in the UK and NZ a shot at adventures of their very own.

In October 2016, Anna teamed up with an adventure Amiga, Faye, and began a two-woman mission to cycle along the spine of the largest mountain range in the world: The Andes. By the time they returned to the UK in April 2017 we had pedalled through some of South America’s most remote and inhospitable regions and ascended over 100,000 metres on a bike – more than 11 times the height of Everest.

Anna is proud to be the UK Ambassador for Girl Guiding, and the co-founder of Adventure Queens; the UK’s fastest-growing women’s adventure community. Anna’s zest for life and adventure has inspired many women and girls across the UK that they too can pursue the adventures they seek.

Anna’s most recent adventure was her attempt to run the distance of 100 marathons through Great Britain, in her bare feet. Over the course of five months, global adventurer Anna McNuff ran the distance of 90 marathons (2,352 miles) completely barefoot across the British Isles. The 34-year-old began her Barefoot Britain journey on June 2, 2019, in the Shetland Islands and finished in London on November 17, battling razor-blade coastlines, mucky farmland and pebble beaches along the way.

Anna, as an ambassador of Girl Guiding UK, chose this challenge in a bid to inspire young women to reach for goals that they may believe lie beyond their capabilities. During the route she visited 143 towns, giving motivational talks to a total of 1,700 girl guides on the joys of adventure, taking risks and personal growth. Spurred on by the cheerful faces of the Girl Guides, Anna was able to ignore her blistered feet and achy hips to finish her journey to London, where she arrived on November 17, 2019.

Anna was recently named by Condé Nast Traveller as one of the 50 most influential travellers of our time, and by the Guardian as one of the top modern female adventurers.

What we love about Anna’s story:

Anna is one of those people who have such an intense zest for life that you can hardly stop smiling when you interact with her. Her joie de vivre and sheer determination to make the impossible, possible, are a huge source of inspiration not just to us but to all those who come into contact with Anna.

Anna has shunned the traditional path in search of that which makes her come alive, and her work with Girl Guides and the Adventure Queens means that not only are her adventures inspiring, but she actively helps others to live more adventurously in their lives as well.

Anna is an inspiration to all of us and a demonstration of what the human body can achieve if one sets their mind to it. Never has this been clearer than on her barefoot journey around Britain, we take our hats off to her!