Bounding about the urban landscape — with a complete disregard for gravity and knee joints alike — practitioners of parkour, a running acrobatic sport, look at walls, stairs and any other obstacle as not only a challenge but a source of fun.
Participants roam the streets in groups or as individuals, scaling anything that gets in their way, and stopping to play on walls or jump over intimidating gaps. Many are trained gymnasts. The sport is equal parts gymnastics, improvisation and insanity. “Parkour is supposed to be from point A to point B as quickly as possible,” explains Patrick Chan, a member of Calgary’s No Limits parkour squad.
Sporting T-shirts emblazoned with their logos and catchphrases like “I do all my own stunts,” and “Regret nothing, fear less,” approximately 30 people from Calgary and Winnipeg gathered in Eau Claire to meet, run, flip and climb. Some practised standing backflips, some clung sideways to lampposts, while others performed impossible running front flips, soaring effortlessly through the air.
Despite the exercise and fresh air, it does have dangers beyond strains, breaks and bruises. There’s an addiction that forms. Once you start you “realize you can’t turn it off,” says Chan.
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