> Skip to content
  • Published: 3 August 2012
  • ISBN: 9781869799687
  • Imprint: RHNZ Adult ebooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 312

Eating Dirt

Adventures and Yarns from New Zealand's Action Man



Outdoor adventures and advice on resilience from extreme athlete Steve Gurney, author of the bestselling Lucky Legs.

Outdoor adventures and advice on resilience from extreme athlete Steve Gurney, author of the bestselling Lucky Legs.

Hard man and 9-time Coast to Coast winner Steve Gurney reckons we're cotton-wooling our kids - they need to be falling out of trees and having accidents and making mistakes so they'll know how to find their limits in later life.

In this ripping yarn of a book, Steve recounts some of his recent extreme adventures - in the Sahara, on Mount Cook, and in other remote parts of the world. He also talks about his experiences of the Christchurch earthquakes, which have impacted on him markedly.

In true Gurney fashion, this book is part riveting story and part philosophy, all told with humour and style.

  • Published: 3 August 2012
  • ISBN: 9781869799687
  • Imprint: RHNZ Adult ebooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 312

About the author

Steve Gurney

Steve Gurney, author of motivational multi-sport autobiographies Lucky Legs and Eating Dirt, famously won the gruelling Coast to Coast adventure race nine times, and has undertaken numerous outdoor challenges throughout the world — biking, running, kayaking, mountaineering. He continues to find new extreme challenges as well as speaking to many groups of all ages. An extreme sports icon who has moved from multi-sports to triathlons to adventure racing, this ever-popular larrikin and adventurer combines tales of derring-do with advice on resilience for the extreme athlete. See www.stevegurney.co.nz.

The Otago Daily Times said of Lucky Legs, ‘Whether you are an aspiring multi-sport athlete, someone who appreciates success that comes from hard work or you want an insight into an exceptional New Zealander, Lucky Legs is a great read.’

NZ Multisport called it a ‘motivational, funny, frank autobiography’.

Graeme Barrow, writing in the Hawke’s Bay Weekend, declared: Eating Dirt: Adventures and yarns from New Zealand’s action man ‘a remarkable book by a remarkable man’. The NZ Fitness reviewer wrote: ‘If you ever want to read about one of New Zealand’s most iconic adventure racers, then this is the story to read.’ Garth George, in the Bay of Plenty Times, welcomed the underlying message of not wrapping up children in protective cotton-wool but encouraging them to take risks, declaring: ‘I heartily recommend Gurney’s book … to all parents who care for their children’s future.’ Young Country concluded: ‘Easy to read and hard to put down, you might not agree with all his preachings but it is certainly thought-provoking.’

Also by Steve Gurney

See all