From Harry Styles to Iron Maiden’s fencer: when music and sport mix

Rock tropes might suggest a life of drugs and booze is not ideal preparation for a life in sport, but Giles is not alone in debunking the stereotype. Here, we look at some of the other singers and musicians who have refused to stay in their lane.

Joe Strummer (marathon runner)

The lead singer of punk gods The Clash did indeed run marathons. As with much of band history, recollections are sketchy, but it seems he ran London in 1981 and 1983, clocking a time of 4hr 13min in the latter race.

In between, he famously went missing, escaping to Paris with his girlfriend Gaby Salter where, after growing a beard and then getting bored, he entered the Paris Marathon. He later insisted he had done no training and his preferred methodology comprised not running for four weeks beforehand and downing ten pints of beer on the eve of the race. He did add a warning, saying: “It works for me and Hunter S. Thompson but it might not work for others. I can only tell you what I do.”

Bruce Dickinson (fencer)

The frontman of the enduring heavy metal screechers Iron Maiden has an unusual penchant for fencing. This was formed in his school days, when a metalwork teacher turned up with a sword. Dickinson said it looked like Excalibur and asked if he could make one. He took it very seriously, one drummer bemoaning his habit of bunking off recording sessions to “kill someone in the park”.

He also enlisted the help of the British Olympic coach Ziemek Wojciechowski and rose as high as seventh in the national rankings. He confessed that travelling the world with a sword did cause problems for a member of a heavy metal band, but he learnt the word “fencing” in 20 languages as a defence.

A coach and investor in an equipment company, he was 13th at the Circuit Européen Veterans tournament last year in Lille, where he lost to the 1980 Olympic champion Pascal Jolyot. Hell and fire was spawned to be released.

Bob Marley (footballer)

It may be scant consolation to world-weary Tottenham Hotspur fans to know that the reggae giant was a fan, albeit his first team was Santos and his Spurs connection was largely because of Ossie Ardiles. Marley’s love of playing is well-documented and friends said an impromptu kickaround was the time he felt least stressed.

His talent was more questionable. Some said he was good, but by 1980 he was out of form and Paulo Cézar Caju, a member of Brazil’s 1970 World Cup-winning squad, was unimpressed after a private match. “Bob was really bad,” he said. “From one to ten, I’d give him 1.5.”

The passion passed to Marley’s daughter, Cedella, who helped save the impoverished Jamaican women’s national team when they hit financial trouble. One erroneous story about Marley is that his cancer was caused by a football injury, although it may be that he mistook a melanoma under his toenail for a sport-related bruise.

Vanessa-Mae (skier)

The Singapore-born British violinist competed for Thailand in the slalom at the 2014 Winter Olympics, finishing dead last of 67 finishers. The FIS governing body had been eager to see her there and she took advantage of the system that offered very lenient criteria to countries without an athlete in the top 500. “I nearly crashed three times and was worried I would get lost,” she said breezily.

While some in the field were miffed that their medals gained less attention than the classical-popster’s slow descent in three movements, she was unabashed. “It’s never too late to try something,” she said. “If somebody says, ‘I want to play the violin,’ I’m going to say, ‘OK, you’re not going to be great, but you’re going to have fun.’ ”

Nick Mason (racing driver)

It seems natural that fast living and buckets of money should segue into motor sport. Gravel-voiced guitarist Chris Rea built a replica Ferrari Sharknose for his film La Passione, partly an homage to Wolfgang von Trips, who was killed at the 1961 Italian Grand Prix, while Andrew Ridgeley, the other one in Wham!, dallied in Formula 3 racing where the tabloids gleefully reported every crash.

Mason, the Pink Floyd drummer, had more success. His car collection is worth millions, but he competed too, making five appearances in the Le Mans 24 Hour race. His best finish was second in class and 18th overall in 1979, when the multi-tasking film star Paul Newman was a runner-up.

Robert Plant (football vice-president)

The Led Zeppelin hairball claims that he fell in love with Wolverhampton Wanderers when Billy Wright, the beloved captain, waved at him from the pitch. Plant was five years old and unlike other rockers who have claimed a dubious allegiance or jumped on the bandwagon as if it is a crate of complementary bourbon, he has a genuine love of his club.

The magic of the FA Cup was never louder than when Wolves played Kidderminster Harriers in 2004 — the Kidderminster life president Colin Youngjohns had nearly hit it big himself but after playing on the same bill as Jerry Lee Lewis, he moved into carpets. Wolves won 2-0. Good times, bad times.

Harry Styles (marathon runner)

The flamboyant ex-One Direction pop icon is a good runner. Now the other side of 30, he clocked 2hr 59min 13sec at last year’s Berlin Marathon. That is a very tidy time, putting him in the top 5 per cent of finishers. Styles has also competed in Tokyo.

As someone who was once outgunned by Kylie Minogue down by the Cutty Sark, I recommend this year’s London runners keep an eye out for Styles, who ran under the pseudonym Sted Sarandos last time out.

… and two who went the other way

Mark Butcher (blues guitar) The England cricketer had been through a lot by the time he retired and sought solace in the blues. His debut album, Songs from the Sun House, was no vanity project and I once visited him at home, where he told me of his love for Eric Clapton. “There’s something about his story that has gripped me since I was young. As a teenager your entire brain is wired to tragedy so I was fascinated when I read about his problems and the heroin and the rest. It’s not just the guitar playing.” Clapton sent him a text lauding his vocals, but Butcher lost it when his phone broke. That’s the blues.

John Charles (crooner) One of my best nights in this job was sitting down for a pint with Wales totem and Leeds United’s greatest footballer. In his booming baritone, he told me about his singing days when playing for Juventus.

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