Home > Outdoors > Parkour group takes running to new levels
Parkour group takes running to new levels
BY MCKAYLA BOELTER
STATESMAN STAFF WRITER
ISSUE: 78/30
ALEXANDER SUSUKI / STATESMAN
Mark Schanzenbach jumps over the railing
above Bohannon 90. He’s part of the Le Parkour
group that meets twice a week.
Running on an adrenaline rush, senior Clark Anderson, creator of the club Le Parkour gathers speed to make a jump. Seconds before crashing into a small, cement wall outside Voss Kovach, he leaps up, touches the top of the wall with his hands and bounds over his obstacle.
According to a Seattle Times article titled, “‘Parkour’ takes leap in popularity in the U.S.,” parkour is a world-wide sport of gymnastic-like activity that started about 20 years ago. “It’s the most efficient path between two points,” said Mark Schanzenbach, graduate of UMD.
Every Wednesday and Saturday, students belonging to the group, Le Parkour, can be seen near an entrance to Voss Kovach jumping or vaulting over the railings. When the weather is nice outside, they can be seen around UMD, St. Scholastica and occasionally down by Canal Park practicing their tricks. “We get a lot of weird looks and sometimes a stern telling off,” said junior Miles Blount.
The group has been questioned by campus security for jumping off of a low roof before, but they haven’t been written down or brought in yet. “It’s no more dangerous than riding a bike,” said senior Eric Mislivec. Although one group member a few months ago gashed his leg open and needed stitches, injuries are not a major concern. The group stretches before each practice session, and they make sure to progress slowly in the level of difficulty for their tricks. “Know your limits,” said Schanzenbach.
After practicing inside Voss Kovach and jumping over the low cement wall just outside the building, the group moved to the courtyard outside Bohannon Hall. Certain members took turns climbing up onto the low roof of the building so that they could vault the railing, take a few running steps to leap off the building, land in the grass and end in a roll. “It feels freeing. You can go anywhere,” said Anderson.
Beyond the physical exercise aspect of parkour, many traceurs and traceuses, practitioners of the sport of parkour, use it for meditative and reflective purposes. “It trains your brain to think in different ways,” said Schanzenbach. As a world-wide sport, parkour can be practiced by anyone willing to fall down a few times. “It doesn’t really matter [who you are],” said junior Elizabeth Kramer. “It’s what you can do with your own body.”
