Running Punks
When musicians and runners Jimmy and Rhodri realised there wasn’t a club that worked for them on the traditional running scene, they decided to make their own, with a hard stance against forms, fees and competitive egos
The group sticking two fingers up to the traditional running scene
In 2006, Jimmy Watkins was one of the fastest men in the UK. He broke the Welsh record for the indoor 800m with a time of 1:47.23, and was the
rst Brit in 25 years to reach the World Indoor Athletics Championship nals, held that year in Moscow. Watkins crossed the nish line just 1.41 seconds behind the gold medal winner in the nals, but it was enough of a di erence to place him in last. e event was over, and Watkins felt his athletic career was also coming to an end.
Tired of the rules and constraints of competitive running, he hung up his trainers 18 months later to pursue his second passion: music. Swapping the track for the road, Watkins left athletics behind in the dust of his tour bus as he became the frontman of rock band Future of the Left. e isotonic drinks were swiftly replaced by free beer at gigs, the stadium crowds swapped for mosh pits, and DOMS exchanged for heavy hangovers. When Watkins retired from the band in 2015 after performing around the world, he was ve stone heavier and drastically out of shape.
“I now see that the self-destruction I was in icting on myself through alcohol was my way of avoiding being the man I was born to be,” he says. “I drank so I could hide away from taking those brave rst few steps needed to fully express myself.” When his wife, Gloria, gifted him with a framed photo of the Moscow nals on his 36th birthday, Watkins realised he needed to make a serious change and reconnect with his former self. At the turn of 2019, he set himself some new running goals, with a less intense approach. “In my early 20s, I’d often run myself into the ground,” he says. “ese days I stop as soon as I want to go home to read a book or eat ve chocolate bars in the bath. e biggest change in attitude I’ve had is that I no longer think musicians are the coolest people on the planet. I realise the coolest people on the planet are runners who like music!”
THE ORIGINAL RUNNING PUNKS
A year in, Watkins began taking music recommendations on social media and lmed himself bolting around Llanelli, South Wales, passionately reviewing the tunes that carried him through the kilometres. “I know running is my self-expression, so I put my daps on and just go out to be me,” he says. “If I was to play a gig with my band and the venue had a crappy PA, or the stage was wonky, I wouldn’t worry about it. I’d remind myself that passion and energy are the same, no matter where you play. I feel that way about running.”
Fellow musician Rhodri Morgan hadn’t seen his old friend and former bandmate Jimmy in a long time, but they crossed paths when Morgan was running his rst ever marathon while Watkins happened to be cruising the opposite way during his