I awoke today to glorious sunshine. The weather in London was exquisite, and after breakfast I made my way over to the venue. The course of course, looks spectacular as you can see in the images below. This year, the lengend that is Nico Wcleck designed the course and its fantastic. Bars, gaps, multiple levels and its actually embedded into the National Theatre itself, so there are brand new possibilites for movement. After a scout around, getting signed in with wristbands, athlete briefings etc, we were unleashed on the course. Its such a sight to behold, I personally believe it should become a permanent structure to train on. Workshops are also running to let members of the public try their hand at Parkour, come by tomorrow and throw some flips, practice strides or just enjoy watching the movement. After the workshops, we had lunch and watched Danny Macaskill (Biker known for the RedBull video ‘Way Back Home’) ride his BMX around the course, jumping from platform to platform just like the Parkour practitoners. Its a joy to see the entire freerunning community out in force for this event, with such a fantastic atmosphere going on between all the athletes, this event is hardly a competition in the traditional sense. The level of camaraderie and friendships formed between this group of people, all from different countries around the world is awesome. The athletes then trained on the course into the night to test the lighting and fully familiarise themselves with the movements they may choose to pull. Just remember, the event is at the National Theatre (by the river near the London Eye) at 6PM Sunday 20th (tomorrow as of time of writing). Its FREE so just come and enjoy! Expect a few surprises!
