By Owen Morgan
A pub bet made with an Englishman before Wales’ 30-3 Six Nations win over England seven years ago has led to a crazy fund-raising event in Llanelli this weekend, featuring Jimmy Watkins.
Former international athlete turned rock musician Watkins told the English fan that whatever the winning margin, he would run a mile for each point . . . immediately after the game and wearing a pair of blue suede shoes!
What Watkins hadn’t bargained for, was a rampant Welsh side racking up an unforgettable 30-3 win, resulting in a record-breaking winning margin and a daunting 27-mile run for the Welshman!
A 2006 World Athletics Championships 800m finalist he may have been, but Watkins had long given up the sport for a rock’n’roll lifestyle which he admits wasn’t the healthiest.
A 27-mile post match run around the crowded streets of Cardiff was not an option.
Watkins says: “I made a bet in the bar with an Englishman, like you do, and I told him whatever the points difference was, I would run that in miles, so if it was a three points difference I would run three miles.
“I said I’d do it straight after the game, too, in my blue suede shoes, a pair of jeans and some Ben Sherman shirt.
“Needless to say I didn’t expect it to be a 27 points difference! So, I didn’t run and I didn’t run the next day, either.”
Fast forward seven years and Watkins, who started running again last year in order to combat the ravages of years on the road as a successful musician, has announced he is ready to honour the bet in a Twitter clip for his many followers.
A week today myself, @MathPhillips & others will all be fulfilling this promise I made in 2013! We’re raising money for @ProstateCymru by running 27 miles worth of 1km laps around North Dock! Come and join us. https://t.co/6YUuNwqnjf pic.twitter.com/BwADAKvc6K
— Jimmy Watkins (@LittleTimmkins) February 15, 2020
Since returning to the sport, the 39-year-old has once again made a name for himself within the running community as the Rock and Roll Runner having set up an online running club called Running Punks and launched a hugely popular podcast called “Megabus to the Ritz”.
In the Twitter post, Watkins says: “It’s seven years later and I’ve decided I’m going to do it, I’m finally going to do it . . . on February 22, in Llanelli, which is next week . . . pretty terrifying.”
Despite having got himself back into shape, which even saw him return to competitive action on the track for an 800m race earlier this year, the furthest Watkins has ever run is a half marathon, or 13.1 miles.
However, he won’t be alone on his fundraising effort for Prostate Cancer Cymru – a charity close to his heart – as he will be joined by fellow Llanelli Athletics Club member and pal Matthew Phillips, who is currently in training for the London Marathon.
It’s just as well that Watkins will have Phillips’ company on the run because much of it will be completed on a monotonous 1km loop at Llanelli’s North Dock.
“What we are doing is running Llanelli parkrun first and we’re not stopping . . . Forrest Gump style. Well, we’ll hand our barcodes in, rules are rules and you don’t break rules!
“Then, we’re going to jog all the way down to North Dock and it’s just over a kilometre loop, so we’re going to keep on looping around there for around 22 miles.”
The dynamic duo are inviting people to come along to cheer them on in their marathon charity fund-raising effort, Forrest Gump style.
This is fun…just a load of random bits from our gig in Bristol on Friday with @oxygenthiefYEAH. pic.twitter.com/9Ts36NtPz0
— Jimmy Watkins (@LittleTimmkins) February 5, 2020
“We’re asking people to come and join us because it’s going to be tough,” says Watkins. “I’m probably going to end up with one leg twice the size of the other because it’s just the same turn for 22 miles.
“So we’re asking people to join us, bring cakes, bring food, bring alcohol-free beers, bring real beers if you want!
“We are doing it for Prostate Cancer Cymru. It’s a charity we want to help, it’s affected my family twice, so it’s something I want to help.”
The pair will start on the weekly Llanelli parkrun at the King George V Playing Fields in Pwll at 9am. “We’ll be running for about four hours and then we’ll go and watch the rugby afterwards, I guess,” says Watkins.
Presumably, after the morning’s exertions, Watkins will be reluctant to make any more rash rugby-based running bets during the afternoon’s Wales v France international. But then again . . .
Anyone wishing to donate towards Watkins and Phillips fundraising effort for Prostate Cancer Cymru can go to their GoFundMe page.