Free Running Championships [LDN Life]
Posted In LDN LIFE by Speeakz
Took a little journey down to Trafalgar Square yesterday afternoon to see some of the worlds finest freerunners do their thing on a specially built stage in the heart of our sunny capital. Like a disturbing number of events I seem to go to these days it was hosted by Dave Berry. Usually not a big fan, but this time he had his moments.
For those that don’t knows freerunning involves moving smoothly round urban obstacles – jumping off gaps, running along bars and generally risking life and limb – but with more of an emphasis on tricks than the otherwise similar ‘Parkour’. The event featured 25 competitors from around the world including three lads repping for the UK. Each guy had a minute to make his way round to a song of his choice, flipping and rolling off whatever obstacles took his fancy. Some of it was crazy, but unless you try this stuff yourself, its hard to understand how difficult it is. I definitely began to suffer from flip fatigue as the day went on because they made it look too easy, but there were a few guys who really blew me away.
The rounds were broken up by some other performances. Soul Mavericks are a dope London bboy crew but they struggled to keep the crowd interested over a set time that was far too long. BGT winners Diversity did their thing, including their winning routine, which was pretty impressive in the flesh. Highlight for me was beatboxer The Petebox, who absolutely smashed it using a sampler to loop his way to a beatbox version of “Wheres Your Head At?”, which had the crowd hype just in time for the live feed on BBC 3.
The eventual winner was a homegrown lad, Tim ‘Livewire’ Shieff – a result which massively pleased the 7,500 strong crowd. I have a sneaky suspicion the american dude who came in second should’ve taken it but what do i know? Plus i’ve been a fan of Livewire since I first began checking out his ridiculously dope YouTub videos – so I was pretty happy myself.
All in all a good day, and nice to see central London used for such a creative event
Peeeace
Loz
