A super-tough adventurer has completed a historic feat of endurance - running 2,620 miles across the UK BAREFOOT.

Anna McNuff set out from the Shetland Isles in June 2019 and, after 2,620 miles - the equivalent of 100 marathons - reached the finishing line in Wimbledon on Sunday.

The intrepid explorer, who has previously cycled through all 50 US states and run the length of New Zealand, has been obsessed with running without shoes for a while now.

Tough Anna crossed the line, in Cannizaro Park at about 2pm, completing her 'Barefoot Britain' challenge.

Anna said: “It’s been a wonderful, weird, difficult and extraordinary five months.

"I have stepped in poo, glass - and even on a dead rabbit. You don’t have to run 100 marathons barefoot to have an adventure.

"But you do have to take that first step out of your comfort zone. I know that if girls can take those first adventurous steps, then they'll see what they are truly capable of.”

Before setting off, she said: “I’ve had a quiet obsession with minimalist running for a few years now, ever since I read Born to Run and spent time in New Zealand - where many of the kids run around barefoot.

“Feet are quite the complex machine, with over 7,000 nerve endings in each sole and 26 bones in each foot.

“This adventure is a huge experiment – I’m looking to see if I can coax my feet into doing what they were truly built to do, after a lifetime of being squidged up in shoes.”

Both of Anna’s parents were Olympians, and she grew up wanting to follow in their footsteps.

She went on to row for Great Britain, winning a bronze medal at the 2007 European Championships.

But, dogged by injuries in her twenties, she decided to retire and embark on a new life as an adventurer, travelling the world in pursuit of new and daunting endurance challenges and writing two books in the process.

Anna is an ambassador for UK Girl Guiding, and a central part of her mission is “to show the young women of Great Britain that there is more magic in them than they will ever know.”

Throughout her run, she stopped off to talk with groups of Girl Guides across the country, speaking to them about “ the joys of adventure and the great outdoors”.

She said: “I wanted to show girls they can do anything.

"That’s why I’ve run the length of the UK in my bare feet – to show girls and young women that taking risks and doing things that scare them, big or small, can be incredible.

"And being a girl should not stop you from doing anything. I have spoken to thousands of girls in all over the UK and my message has always been ‘be bold, be brave and be you.’

"The girls are always so eager to see my feet and surprised that they don't look all that different to their own – mine just have a bit more dirt on them."