I have been working in parkour since 2021, firstly at a gym, and for the last couple of years for Parkour UK as their people and coaching lead. I have also been involved in the sport as a parent for a few years longer than that, and I absolutely love the sport and the community.
I am constantly in awe watching how far people push themselves physically and mentally and I am consistently blown away by people’s capabilities.
My Instagram feed is pretty much just parkour (and cats) these days, and that includes some incredible middle-aged people pushing themselves, such as mel2toes, paula.flinn and rmmarshall.
I have had a go at parkour on a number of occasions, at the gym where I used to work, and at the Nova Coaching Convention for example. I have participated in numerous Level 1 courses, tried a few jumps and vaults and some balancing and I would love to do more, but something inside is stopping me.
Like most people who participate in the sport, I am not fearless, but I am game to try a lot of things. I love skiing and think nothing of hurling myself down a mountain at speed and will try and keep up with the younger members of the group. I’ll even have a go in the snow park! I’ve been lucky enough to go shark cage diving, skydiving, white water rafting and abseiling, but for some reason I just cannot bring myself to try more parkour.
I see the likes of Mel, literally sticking two fingers up to those who stay ‘grow up’ and agree whole heartedly with the sentiment. The last thing I want to do is act like a grown up most of the time. I see Paula jumping and rolling around Mosman Park and think I want to do that. Paula also runs The Play Reset a programme designed to help you rediscover the small moments in life, a little spark of joy and playfulness in life, which let’s face it, can sometimes be challenging. This playfulness extends to her parkour workshops. And what is more playful than hanging in a tree, jumping off a wall, or swinging on some bars? Don’t we all crave that inner child moment again? So why don’t I just get out there and give it a go?
I am a pretty fit 53-year-old, although my knees and shoulders are a bit knackered, but that shouldn’t stop me right?
I am genuinely scared of injuring myself in a way that doesn’t even occur to me when skiing. It’s as if there is a huge ‘What If’ sign hovering above my head. What if I twist my ankle, what if I break my wrist. But what if I don’t give it a go at all, what’s worse than looking back in 10 or 15 years’ time and regretting that I didn’t just try it. And who knows if I start now, perhaps I might still be taking part in 10 years’ time?
Another reason I am hesitant is judgement. As Georgia Donati-Clarke mentions on her recent Breaking Barriers podcast, this is a common fear for women. But as Georgia points out the parkour community aren’t going to be judging me but celebrating that I am giving the sport a go. And this is the experience I have had when I have given parkour a go in the past. But I am also scared of judgement from people outside of the sport, what will people think of me jumping off of a wall at my age. Or maybe people might think, ‘wow, that looks fun, I’d like to give that a try’.
The truth is, none of us are getting any younger, getting older is a privilege that not everyone gets to experience, so I’m just going to give it a go. No more excuses, no more what ifs, no more caring what others think!
To hold myself accountable I have signed up to attend the FemGaps jam in May. I am apprehensive and nervous but also excited to get out of my comfort zone and give parkour a go. Watch this space!
