Often hailed as a community of action, the parkour circle has once again proven to itself that a number of physical feats can be achieved through a perfectly optimistic view on the nature of challenge. Collectively, the parkour community tends to thrive when faced with a social cause and an opportunity to be useful. In a recent instance, I was fortunate enough to be able to volunteer my time and willpower to 1 mile of balancing on a railing. An impressive act in itself though far more astounding when over 28 other people were performing the same mile globally.
I first heard word of David Banks and his ideas through my hometown group of parkour friends. His 8-mile ‘Crawl for Haiti,’ completed in January 2010, wasn’t something we could comprehend and he quickly became a hero within the Scottish community. The interpretation of parkour values that led a teenager to crawl along the freezing streets of Glasgow for over 10 hours, was the same that motivated David to attempt a marathon’s worth of rail balance.
The raised funds would be donated to two movement-based charities, Soul Parkour (Germany) and Free Your Instinct (UK), who have similar focus of supporting individuals with mental health issues. Unfortunately, due to an untimely injury, David was unable to undertake his challenge alone, so on April 21st 2020, parkour practitioners from 11 different countries all walked a mile in support. Coincidentally, it just so happened that two of the volunteers from Scotland, Chris Grant and Scott Houston, were also involved in David’s crawl just over a decade ago.
Looking back through my own parkour training, balance was always a personal favourite. It was a visually impressive skill that I could practise thoroughly without the intimidation of height or momentum. I remember vividly that tourists in Inverness would, on occasion, offer me cash for little more than a static pose on a handrail. I revelled in the fact that my training companions, who enjoyed demonstrating somersaults to the same tourists, would receive far less attention. It wasn’t long before I reached the milestone of being able to balance from one end our favourite railing to the other. The total distance can’t have been more than maybe 30 metres though from then on, I used it as an example of my prolific ability amongst my peers.
Of course, these memories can’t compare to the recent addition of a 1 mile balance. The only challenge remotely similar came in May 2016 in the form of trying to stay on a railing, without dismounting, for over an hour. I succeeded along with Gordon Tsang, who also participated in the marathon, and it remains one of my fondest parkour memories to this day.
The day prior to the rail marathon challenge, I had driven through a few settlements along the Central Coast in New South Wales looking for the “Perfect rail.” While exploring a skate park, an unused sport stand nearby beckoned me. The solitude provided by the COVID-19 pandemic was ideal for such a challenge and I returned the following day to attempt my mile.
After the tedious process of measuring a rail playing host to a few cheeky corners, I discovered that I would need to complete roughly 27.5 lengths to reach the desired distance. I wasn’t bothered by this and proceeded with the mind-set that if I could manage it once or twice without falling, then I could manage it 28 times.
I was wrong of course. By about lap 9 or 10, I had lulled myself into a false sense of security and had relaxed. At this point, the act of balancing becomes almost meditative and I was relying on autopilot while my mind wandered. As I finished lap 11, I lost my balance and fell during the turnaround. Infuriated with myself, I leaped back on to the rail and found that it took me almost another minute before I had found a balance point. A sense of dread informed me that I had not only disappointed myself but I had potentially let down every single other participant. In hindsight, I was being ridiculous since completion with no fault was simply a fabrication of my imagination. I fell halfway through both lap 16 and 21 for the same reason, always at sections of the rail that I would normally deem as easier. Before beginning the challenge, I would have expected the largest obstacle to be the sheer amount of time until completion. As it turns out, all my years of parkour had conditioned me to just keep going. I didn’t even have to think about it. The total time from start to finish came to around 1 hour and 4 minutes which I reckon I could improve on without too much extra practise.
Unexpectedly, the largest obstacle was, without question, my own train of thought which I had to consistently dodge by forcing all concentration back to the rail in question. Upon reflection, I say this problem was reminiscent of driving or perhaps running. These are activities that I’ve become proficient in over the years where mistakes only usually happen if I proceed while my thoughts are elsewhere. In recent memory I’ve only caught myself speeding, or maybe even running the odd red light, when I was debating with myself about what I should eat next or what so-and-so is up to later etc. The same was true in this case. I was constantly trying not to think about the other participants or how long I’d been walking on the railing. At its worst, I recall trying to figure out from which angle would be best to take photos post challenge. I remember I would get to a point where I had to physically stop moving in order to regain my focus as well as my balance.
Due to my location on the planet, I believe I had the privilege of being the first one to complete my mile on the day of the event. Upon my dismount, I quickly became aware of all my bodily aches. My shoulders and neck were all tensed up from holding my arms in the air from the past hour and from gazing downward at the railing in front of me. My ankles had been engaged for far longer than they were used to. What was most unusual was the effect that influenced my sight. Wherever I looked, the ground appeared to be almost ‘Flowing’ or at the very least, it was warping surreally. I find that this illusion is only obvious during long periods of balancing.
I love a big parkour-based challenge. Especially if the conclusion results in support for my fellow practitioners and provides a funding opportunity for a good cause. I know from experience that the community delights in demonstrating the essence of parkour and is always ready to apply their parkour values to any situation. Events like these will no doubt inspire and motivate a younger generation of practitioner to ‘Be strong to be useful.’
Thanks to David and anyone else involved. I think I’ll make the mile rail balance a regular part of my training from now on.