This past weekend (12th and 13th July) Parkour UK attended Scarborough Extreme, an annual event which is part of the longer Scarborough Fair event. This was Parkour UK’s first appearance at the festival and we were excited to get stuck in.
Firstly, we want to give a huge thank you to Gymnova and their Brick parkour equipment. They provided us with the portable set up to run numerous workshops throughout the weekend, which would not of been possible without their support.
Our team across the 3 days were Tom from Project Z Parkour, Felix from Toasted Magazine and Corey from Team Reality, along with Julie and Nadine from Parkour UK.
We arrived at Hairy Bob’s skatepark on Saturday, dressed in our new Parkour UK Tees, bright and early to set up the equipment on the green beside the park. The modular nature of the Brick equipment meant that we were able to build a set up which catered not only for young first timers but also allowed our coaches to try out some testing moves too.
With 6 demos and workshops planned across Saturday and Sunday, we were excited to welcome our first participants. Our coaches started with a warmup, (although thanks to the Scarbados weather that didn’t take too long!), and then split into 2 groups to teach a 30-minute workshop. As soon as we got started, we attracted more people keen to come and have a go.
On Sunday, Hairy Bob’s was home to a skate, scooter and BMX jam, which attracted a large number of people to the area. We set up the equipment in a different configuration, and despite having a little less space than Saturday, the modularity of the equipment allowed us to create some more great challenges for participants.
It was great to have a real mixture of ages and abilities across the weekend; with some children as young as 5 years old getting really stuck in, alongside teenagers who had tried a little bit of parkour (having watched videos) but never had any coaching before, and everyone in between. It was also great to see the girls out in force too giving the boys a run for their money!
We gave out a few of our new tee shirts too (printed by Merch Makers). These were given to children who showed real commitment to trying something new or out of their comfort zone and for just never giving up!
On the Monday two of our coaches were due to give a short demo to school children, but sadly due to rain and the wind blowing sand across the sea front, conditions didn’t allow.
We can’t wait to go back next year when the festival promises to be even bigger and better!
Photos by Felix Standen.
.jpg)