Another opportunity to travel presented itself so I decided to take it during the annual fall break. This year, the break was between Thursday, October 8th through Sunday, October 11th. Mom wanted to visit some family in (Click "Read More" to continue")...

Pacific, Washington - way across the United States in the Pacific Northwest. Home to WashingtonParkour and Parkour Visions, a non-profit organization. Over the past few years, WAPK has grown from a few lonely athletes to one of the largest scenes in America. Bringing in thirty to forty athletes from all over the country this past August, hosting their first official national jam that will more than likely, become something annual.

So, mom and I planned a short three day stay in Washington to hang out with some extended family and for me to meet up with some locals. Shortly after class on Wednesday morning, I packed and left for the airport. We were going to fly from Raleigh to Chicago to Seattle. With no problem, we both got on the flights with a special first class trip from RDU to CHI and a goregous view of the sunset as the plane touch down in Seattle.

We picked up the rental car to get to mom's cousin's house late in the evening. I was able to meet my mom's cousin's wife and son before we called it a night. Still on EST, I woke up early to a freezing morning run, short training at a playground a block away from the house, and beautiful sunrise. Everything was moist so I picked up a short ten-step ladder of pull-ups and push-ups with a few sketchy backtucks. I rushed back to the house to catch a ride into Seattle with the famliy. Over a couple of hours, I met a few of mom's aunts and uncles, all happily sharing stories of grandma and mom back in Vietnam. I planned for some free time at Freeway Park so we took a trip downtown.

Pictured above, Freeway Park was an amazing structure that is open to the public. Normally, it's a fountain with water running all over but it was cut off on the day of exploration. After being dropped off, I spent about four hours inspecting every little crevasse and crack. There were big jumps, small jumps, and everything in between. In a short span of time, I performed dozens of different maneuvers and runs. Business men lunched, a few people slept in the sun, dog-lovers walked dogs, and I moved. It was an absolutely beautiful day and I did the best I could to take advantage of it. Next time, I'll be sure to meet up with the locals.

Saturday, the special day to meet up with the Washington locals at Gasworks Park, a former gas-plant-turned park located on Lake Union. I arrived around 1:00PM to find Alex, Rafe, Tim, and another athlete working on a series of vaults of two rails. They took turns connecting one simple movement to another - monkey to reverse to lazy to reverse to lazy to a railspin. I warmed up the joints to join the group shortly with a variety of vaults that they showed effortlessly and gracefully. With Alex performing the most eye-pleasing palm spin I had ever seen, Rafe was working on a unique challenge including a monkey vault, palm spin onto the second rail and from there, palm spin back onto the first rail. It took him a number of tries but he eventually got it. With a quick warm-up, Tyson and a few of his friends arrived to jumpstart the action. It appeared to me that they were in training-mode so I decided to hang around with Alex and Rafe as they showed me inside Gasworks. Rafe's tree challenge! A step-up on a knot, tac against a tree behind me, grab a branch, pivot a little over 180^o with two feet, grab another branch, and a small lache to a cat (Pictured below). This proved rather difficult but I was able to get the hang of the challenge. Next, I was shown a few vaults, running precisions, and the various structures hidden around Gasworks. It was awesome to be shown around by the locals. Then, everybody left except for Alex and Tim so we climbed onto a structure and shared stories for awhile.

Alex Borblikov is a freerunner from Russia who aspires to particpate in the 2010 Freerunning World Championships. In the next few months, he will be moving into an apartment with a few other freerunners and plans on training about eight hours a day. In the coming spring, Alex will travel back to his country to visit friends and family, train with locals, and to meet some of England's athletes including Livewire and hopefully, Ryan Doyle. Afterwards, he will venture around the US to meet with locals from all around the states - keeping North Carolina in mind. Big dreams; it's been awhile since I've heard someone openly talk about their hopeful future yet alone, plans of eight hour training sessions. It was rather inspiring to hear a stranger's dreams. I hope to meet many more like the Seattle crew in the future. Next time, I'll be sure to catch some more of that super Seattle sunshine...

About the Author Since early 2007, Alan Tran has been key to establishing connections for the North Carolina online community. He plans to advance the online community into a non-profit organization while working on local and state projects. As he advances with training, he continues to work towards the one armed chin-up. Alan also aspires to become a "bar-barian" and a "bodyweight demon" by completing various bodyweight challenges.

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