Free Running World Championships

Urban Freeflow, the official worldwide free running and parkour network, have just completed the 2011 free running competition in London on March 20th. Competitors from around the world demonstrated their free running skills to see who was the best free runner.

free running championships 2011

The Art of Motion event on March 20th 2011 has just drawn to an end after being staged in London, UK. Leading into the finals, the top 10 in order of placings were: 1 – Erik Mukhametshin (Russia), 2 – Tim Shieff (UK), 3 – Marcus Gustafsson (Sweden), 4 – Kie Willis (UK), 5 – Jason Paul (Germany), 6 – Ryan Doyle (UK), 7 – Luci Romberg (USA), 8 – Phil Doyle (UK), 9 – Cato Aspmo (Sweden), 10 – Pip Andersen (UK), 11 – Delyan Dimitrov (Bulgaria), 12 – Will Sutton (UK).

The final placings were 1 – Tim Shieff, 2 – Marcus Gustafsson, 3 – Ryan Doyle. Best female award went to Luci Romberg and Sickest Trick award went to Erik Mukhametshin.

Free Running and Parkour

In urban areas, Free Running and Parkour has become widely used by young people as a personal challenge. Free Running is where you attempt to pass all obstacles in your path in a smooth and fluid way. Free runners use moves such as vaulting, jumping and various acrobatic movements to get from one place to another. Parkour differs from Free running in that you aim to get quickly from one place to another in the most efficient and effective way which could be used in case of escaping from a real threat or pursuers. Free running focuses more on self development. A great example of free running can be seen in the opening sequences of the James Bond film Casino Royale. Sebastien Foucan (the founder of Free Running) is chased across a construction site using free running to escape. Another example is in a rooftop chase in the film The Bourne Ultimatum.

The two Channel Four documentaries “Jump London” and “Jump Britain” on free running introduced Britain to the sport, and it has exponentially been taken up by young people throughout the world.

More and more music videos, action films and advertisements are using free running for its amazing visual appeal of the display of skill, athleticism and physical control that free runners have. Madonna’s “Jump” video is a prime example.

Disclaimer – All extreme sports carry a significant risk of damage to property, personal injury or death. Participate at your own risk! You must seek advice and professional instruction before entering into the sport of free running or parkour. You should become knowledgeable about the risks involved and assume personal responsibility for your actions.

Indoor free running London courses taught by Urban Freeflow take place Mondays and Fridays from 7.30pm – 9.30pm at Moberly Sports Centre (nearest tube: Kensal Rise). Admission is £5.00. A weekly outdoor class is held on Wednesday evening at different locations. By reservation only, £10.00.

Youth classes are available on Monday nights at the Stowe Centre (nearest tube: Royal Oak) for £5.00 from 6.30 – 8.30pm. Admission is restricted to those between the ages of 8 and 19.

Private tuition is also available for £40 an hour. Classes are closed between 23rd December and 4th January.

For further information on free running and parkour, visit the official worldwide parkour and free running network at Urban Free Flow. They have information on free running gyms, techniques, videos and more.

World Free Running Championships London 2008

The free running world champs at The Roundhouse in Camden, London, enabled 20 of the best free runners from around the world to demonstrate their style and agility. A custom built free running course was built, and each free running competitor completed the course to their own choice of soundtrack. Each free runner was judged by their peers.

World Freerunning Championships London 2008 Winner Results

If you want to know who won the world free run championship 2008, here are the results. After a fantastic display of skills, Gabe ‘Jaywalker’ Nunez won.

The top 5 were:

Gabe ‘Jaywalker’ Nunez (USA)
Tim ‘Livewire’ Shieff (UK)
Ben ‘Jenx’ Jenkin (UK)
Pip ‘Piptrix’ Andersen (UK)
Billy ‘Skipper’ Hughes (USA)

Sky Sports video coverage of the 2008 world free running championship

Sky Sports covered the Barclaycard World Freerun Championships in London on the 3rd of September. With the 2000 capacity venue having completely sold out of tickets, those who’ve missed the boat will be able to see an hour long show being produced by USP as part of an advertiser funded programme by Barclaycard.

The World Freerun Championships gets its first airing on Sky Sports 3 at 7pm on Monday the 22nd of September. It’ll be repeated again on the same night on Sky Sports 2 at 10pm. It will be repeated a number of times over the following months. For a sneak preview go to the YouTube Barclaycard Freerun page

The competitors in the 2008 world freerun championship were: