Anna McNuffis a runner and adventurer. She’s also an ambassador for Girlguiding in the UK. She’s absolutely awesome – you’ve got to meet her

Words Rachel Ifans

Winning running races isn’t for me – I like to run, stop, look at things and talk to people. It’s about the coffee and cake too, of course. For me, it’s more like I’ve chosen an experience and I just happen to be running because I love it.”

We like Anna McNuffalready. She’s an “adventurer, speaker and mischief maker” says her website. Th e 34-year-old from Surrey tells me about the match that lit the touchpaper: “My friend and I dressed up as Roman soldiers and ran the length of Hadrian’s Wall together.

“I knew I liked going out for a day’s run. But I suddenly started to wonder what would happen if I took my stuffand stayed overnight, using it as a way to explore places. At that time I hadn’t explored the UK much, but my friend was a history teacher and I started to get more interested in learning about Hadrian’s Wall.”

Next, Anna donned a dinosaur onesie and ran the Jurassic Coast with another friend. “I’d found my niche. I didn’t want to be worried about my times, always keeping an eye on my splits or clock watching. For me, it was – and is – about joy and running.”

That had always been the case for Anna. “One of my earliest memories is of the school cross country – you know the type, where most kids sprint for the first 20 metres and then walk the rest of the way? My first race, when I was six years old, was a loop around a hospital in Epsom, and I ran myself to a standstill because I was so excited. I couldn’t make it to the end of the last lap and my dad had to pick me – I was in tears because I couldn’t finish.”