Ryan Jones And Gavin Henson Both Go The Extra Mile

Two of Wales’ more recent Grand Slam heroes, Gavin Henson and Ryan Jones, were always big hits on the field, but now they are proving their worth off it.

With the country gripped by the coronavirus pandemic, the two former Ospreys, Wales and British & Irish Lions team-mates have been revealing a different side to their champion nature.

Henson, now 38, runs The Fox pub in the Vale of Glamorgan. They are still doing takeaway meals to help support the local community in the current crisis and deliveries are being carried out by the former world class centre.

The cult figure has been surprising customers by turning up on their doorways with meals in hand.

 

Haha cheers guys happy you enjoyed it 👍🏾👍🏾 https://t.co/LOXuMxl4jS

— Gavin Henson (@gavinhenson82) April 2, 2020

Jones, meanwhile, wasn’t prepared to rest on his laurels and at the weekend did his bit to raise funds for NHS staff in Swansea by running a marathon in his back garden.

It took 700 laps of his home and the 39-year-old completed the gruelling 26.2 miles challenge in 4 hours, 43 mins, 57 sec.

Joking on-line before he took up his ‘Garden Marathon’ on Saturday he said: “I don’t think the view is going to be great. I’m just going to have a green length of hedge and grass to look at for the best part of five or six hours.

 

#ryansgardenmarathon is done!
Thank you to everyone who’s messaged and donated – you are all amazing and I couldn’t have done it without you x
To all those people within the NHS THANK YOU ❤️
To everyone the only limits you have are the ones you set yourself 💪👍🌈 pic.twitter.com/CXSkWlMGOc

— Ryan Jones (@RyanJonesOnline) April 4, 2020

“The only luxury I have got is the toilets are clean and not far away on this run which is different to your major events.”

In the end, he managed to smash through the £5,000 mark he had set on his Just Giving page in aid of Swansea Bay University LHB Charitable Fund and other related charities as he more than delivered on his promise.

He posted messages of thanks to his supporters as he homed in on his target.

“Hi everyone, I’ve just gone through the 40K mark, but more importantly I’ve just raised over £5,000. So to everyone who has donated, a massive ‘Thank You’.

 

#ryansgardenmarathon through the 40km mark and through £5000 raised 🎉🎉🎉🎉thank you x 🌈👍💪😬 pic.twitter.com/EQhKN9Xg3d

— Ryan Jones (@RyanJonesOnline) April 4, 2020

“More importantly, to all those heroes out there who are on the front line giving their time, putting their own health at risk and caring for others, this is for you. Thanks so much!”

As of lunchtime on Sunday, more than £7,000 had been pledged. You can still add to that figure here:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ryan-jones72