Adam Jones to run Cardiff half-marathon after more than five-stone weight loss
Adam Jones, the former Wales prop and Harlequins scrum coach, will run the Cardiff half-marathon on Sunday, 4 October. He has lost more than five stone (32kg) in preparation for the event.
Jones was part of the Wales side that won Grand Slams in 2005, 2008 and 2012 before retiring from international rugby in 2015. He is a three-time Grand Slam champion and a British and Irish Lions series winner, making 100 international appearances before retiring in 2018. Jones became one of Welsh rugby's most recognisable cult heroes and was known for his scrummaging prowess rather than his running exploits.
The decision to change followed a moment on tour: "When I was out in Japan with Wales last year, I remember the camera panning to me at the end of the tour and I was massive," said Jones. "I thought I need to do something about this. I had a bit of gout, too." He is running in aid of St David's Hospice Care and Prostate Cymru.
Jones described his early training approach as a gradual build, adopting a "couch to 5k" programme and progressing through staged milestones. "The first run was a five-minute walk, then a 90-second run, and so on. You're not going straight in and doing it," he said. He has completed a 17km training run and said: "It's definitely the longest I've run," and added, "If you added up all the distances I've run in Test matches, it probably wouldn't be far off that anyway!"
He has changed his diet as part of the process, saying: "Chocolate has always been my weakness," he said. "I've got a sweet tooth. So I cut that out, as well as bread." Jones recently weighed in at 19st 7lb (124kg), which the article says is close to his ideal playing numbers.
Reflecting on weight-management during his playing career, Jones said: "When I was a player, I needed to be at a certain weight," said Jones, "I told Gatland and Craig, 'give me a weight and I'll stick to it'. If I was at that weight, I could play well." He acknowledged past crash-dieting and described his current approach: "I've got a slow plan. Drop it down slowly and training every day in one form or another."
Jones joined Harlequins in 2015 as a player before retiring and joining the coaching staff in 2018, and he was a temporary scrum coach with Wales in 2025 before Paul James took over the permanent role in 2026. He said Harlequins players and coaches had been supportive: "The boys have been brilliant," he said. "A few of them have sponsored me. Some haven't, but that's mostly the big earners. I think they're waiting to see me finish first and then the money might go up a fair bit." He added: "I'm putting myself in a place where it's uncomfortable. I'm asking them to stay in the fight and stay in shape when it gets painful, so it felt wrong if they couldn't see me do the same. I do have perspective. It'll be hard, but there's harder things to do. I always tell the boys here you're not working down a mine. My grandfather was a miner. What he did was hard."
On his goals for the race Jones said: "People keep asking what time I want to get, it's more about getting around for me." He recounted a bet with team-mate Cadan Murley: "Cadan Murley put into ChatGPT the other day to see what time I should run it in and said if I beat that time, he'll give me more money. I'm happy with the time it said because if I can do it under two hours and 30 minutes, he will double the amount." Jones will be supported on the course by his wife Nicole and daughter Isla, and he said his father might attend and is "glad to see me get off the couch and doing a bit". "I am a little nervous about it, but I'm buzzing," said Jones. "I've had the race number from the organisation and it means things have got real. I looked at that and thought, 'What have I done?' I might go incognito in the race so no one can see how slow I'm going, maybe I'll put a balaclava or a daffodil hat on, so I don't get abused!"
Jones said he hopes to continue running after Cardiff: "I'd imagine I'll want to try another half-marathon somewhere else after it," said Jones. "But let's see how this one goes first before I start thinking about running across the Sahara Desert and world marathons and all that."