Episode 48: Jimmy Watkins

Running on Joy

Joy is...Passing the Baton.

What does running sound like to you? For Jimmy Watkins it’s cackling with laughter, pounding the trails to punk rock whilst waving around a GoPro and shouting like he's being pursued by a mad pack of hyenas. It’s certainly a far cry from the Kansas of treadmill running, but not out of character for someone who has formed a community for the people that ‘don’t fit in’ to the traditional assumptions of what a club runner should look and sound like. In 2006, Jimmy reached the 800m final in the World Indoor Athletics Championships and set a Welsh indoor record, only to leave the sport, join a band and tour the world. More recently, he's found his way back to running by combining it with his passion for punk rock. It is through this unlikely union that he has finally found an anarchic, joyful harmony that has brought him the freedom to truly use his talents to spread a mutual love of music, running, and being alive with the world.

There were moments of mad hyena cackling and moments of incredible poignancy in this conversation, which pretty much reflects Jimmy as person: he puts everything out there with a sincerity that is never contrived or derivative; it is simply Jimmy – all of it. We talked about the nature of competition; the joy and motivation of absurdity; navigating the grief of losing what you love and how creativity (and Kendrick Lamar) can teach us to love again; the philosophy of ‘flipping’, and why we should always, in the words of Joan Didion, ‘stay on nodding terms with the person we once were’.

Instagram: @nutbushjimmylimits

You Tube: @jimmywatkins800

Running Punks: www.runningpunks.com

Also mentioned:

Joyce (teaser)

Comedy Huel Review

Running Reviews

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