The Pants Of Perspective: One woman's 3,000 kilometres running adventure through the wilds of New Zealand - Anna Mcnuff

\nWhen 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.\n \n \n\n \nAnna 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.\n \n \n\n \nMaybe she could just run it anyway?\n \n \n\n \nTravelling 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.\n \n \n\n \nThe 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.\n