Who is Wales Coastal Path record-breaker Rhys Jenkins?

Then an 18-year-old visiting America as part of a summer camp, he met a friend who he started doing daily jogs with.

“It wasn’t a massively competitive thing, just running about and enjoying the scenery,” he said.

Little did Rhys know that on a sweltering Monday evening in Chepstow, 14 years later, he would make history for running the Wales coastal path in record time – 20 days, ten hours, and 38 minutes.

Not bad for the old St Joseph’s schoolboy from Cherwell Drive.

Rhys at the finish line. Picture: Claude Compare.

Now living in Roath with wife Cerys, the race event organiser puts much of his achievement down to her.

“If it wasn’t for Cerys I’d still be stuck on Anglesey,” he laughed. “She coordinated the whole trip and I don’t know where I’d be without her.”

But it wasn’t just Cerys by his side. Rhys was joined by an army of 60 people, who dipped in and out of his trip.

He was given a campervan for the whole trip by strangers at Nathaniel Car Sales Ltd in Bridgend, and he puts one of his main highlights as running through the Llyn Peninsula alongside supporters he’d never met.

Rhys and mum Pat

“The huge highlight for me was realising how tight-knit and brilliant the running community is in Wales.

“The Llyn Peninsula was one of the main highlights. I had so many people cheering me on and suddenly turning up and running beside me. It was pretty emotional.”

The magnitude of the task at hand for Rhys – who has always been more of a runner than a planner – really sunk in when he reached Aberystwyth.

“It was such a beautiful open space. I looked right to the north and left to the south, and it just looked huge.”

As the weather took a turn for the worse and Rhys and his team headed for the Mumbles, time began to run out.

Rhys and wife Cerys

“I began to really tire and I could tell the crew became a little worried with the time left. Over the following few days it became ‘just run and run’.

“The following day I ran for 17 hours to Penarth, and I didn’t sleep before getting up and doing the same the day after.

“In the end we beat the record with two hours to go, but that is a pretty tight window when it’s over 20 days.”

There were moments when Rhys found a little more in the tank – none more so than when an angry herd of cows decided it was time for him to get off their patch.

“We were at Ferryside when the cows turned on us and just started legging it towards us. I remember finding some adrenaline from somewhere and running as fast as I could. I was probably the most tired I’ve ever felt after that.”

It was in 2017 when Rhys decided he wanted to give the Wales coastal run record a bash, after James Harcombe set the new bar.

Rhys, who ran across America in 2010 and has completed the Death Valley running challenge in California five times, was persuaded to try the coastal run this year by Cerys when the Death Valley challenge was cancelled.

Rhys (centre) with Penarth boys Lawrence the running coach (right), Rhys' brother Scott (front), Stuart the masseuse (left), and chief crew member John

During the run, he has raised just under £5,000 so far for three charities; CF Warriors – for his friend who suffers with the condition, Maggie’s Cardiff – after they helped his mum Pat recover from the impact of cancer, and NSPCC – after Cerys was abused as a child.

“We want Cerys’ story to be heard in order to raise as much money as possible for the charity,” he said. “It’s so important people speak about it, and we were never going to let the event go by without raising what we could for NSPCC.”

Reflecting on crossing the finish line, Rhys added: “Absolute elation. I just remember letting out a scream and probably looking a bit daft. I was so out of it but I remember scores of people outside the pubs cheering me on.”

So, for someone who has achieved the pinnacle of running stardom in Wales, what next? 

“That is the question that worries Cerys,” he laughed. “I’m not very good at letting things soak in before thinking about what I want to do next.

"Perhaps something someone has never done before.”