Three Percent

The first 45 minutes were the hardest.

I had decided to Join Johnny ‘Sticky’ Budden for a leg of his 1000 miles of Parkour journey from John O’Groats to Lisses, the birthplace of Parkour. I arrived in Nottingham with a bag full of supplies ready to run the 30 miles from Nottingham’s Market Square to Tilton on the Hill in Leicestershire. I’d anticipated being able to leave my bag in the support vehicle, however we wouldn’t meet the vehicle until we’d left Nottingham, 45 minutes of running away. I was worried about tiring myself out before the real bulk of the running could begin, especially as it was a very hot day and dehydration could become a real issue.

Joining me in the quest to support Johnny was Neil Hutson from Lincolnshire, Joe, Josh and Alex from Derby, and Christian who had come all the way from Norway to take part. We left our meeting place of the lions at the market square full of energy but a little apprehensive of the long distance ahead of us. I kept having problems with my broken zip on my bag, and my iPod that I was using to measure distance kept falling off my arm as the strap wasn’t attached properly, this slowed me down for most of the first leg, I couldn’t wait to see the support vehicle so I could sort things out and finally get into a rhythm for the rest of the run.

Three quarters of an hour after the start we found the support vehicle, I quickly took everything superfluous from my bag, changed my t-shirt (thanks to Christian for helping me out of the first one, I couldn’t get if off due to sweat sticking it to me!) reattached my iPod and I was ready to go.

With the teething problems and the urban landscape of Nottingham behind us we were all free to concentrate on running, though with this being 1,000 miles of Parkour, railings and other obstacles were overcome, not circumnavigated. I remember the feeling of excitement I had seeing a rail come into my path, trying to vault each one as seamlessly as possible, a welcome distraction to the running.

As we continued to run I realised what a good bonding experience this kind of event was, we put mile after mile behind us talking about all manner of topics ranging from Parkour specifics and training, to music, to our favourite videos on YouTube! As we were all in this together we built a group dynamic really quickly will all inhibitions about meeting new people quickly forgotten.

As we met with the support vehicle later on the run, Sticky changed into his ‘Forrest Jump’ outfit replete with coat, cap and beard. He ran for a while in the costume, with some pictures being taken before he put it back in the vehicle as the heat behind the false beard became a bit much. (how he even ran in it in the first place eluded me!)

Eventually we came to a sign informing us we were leaving Nottinghamshire, with another informing us we were entering Leicestershire a few metres beyond it, I remember discussing what the no-man’s land between the two should be called with the guys from Derby as we ran past.

Running along the country roads in Leicestershire I really enjoyed the tranquillity of the countryside around us and found myself taking a closer look at the landscape and nature I was surrounded by, there were some really breathtaking views and I chastised myself mentally for taking so many things for granted, I remember taking motivation from the beauty of the natural world around me and my enthusiasm to see more kept me moving.

There were several moments that stuck with me whilst we ran together, Neil’s cheeky side flip between two kerbs on one of the downhill sections, Sticky shouting “last one to the car’s a loser!” a hundred metres from the support vehicle, causing everybody to sprint as fast as they could to the car despite having run almost twenty miles already. Neil trying to back tuck every time we met the support vehicle to test his fatigue levels also buoyed the spirits of the group.

However it wasn’t an easy ride for the whole run. With just under a marathon distance complete, fatigue levels were running high amongst the group, some of the less experienced runners were feeling the effects, however we drew on the Yamakasi saying of “We start together, we finish together!” to keep everyone going. We were going to need all the mental strength we had to tackle the last section of the course. We rounded a bend to see an enormous hill in front of us, not a welcome sight when you’re run over 20 miles.

After an exchange of encouraging words (with the phrase SPARTANS! being heard at least once) and a drink we began tackling the hill, after a few minutes we realised it was a lot longer the we had originally anticipated as we hadn’t even come to the steep section yet after running for a mile or so. Sticky’s mental fortitude impressed me deeply as we battled up the hill, despite his legs being so fatigued from the 600 miles he’d already covered he pushed on and kept moving up this unforgiving incline. When we finally got to the top of the hill we realised it had been almost 3 miles long.

Unfortunately, the difficult conditions didn’t end there after the inevitable downhill section was another steep hill, and another, and another after that, I didn’t realise Leicestershire undulated quite so much! The only solace we took was the fact that we were approaching the end of our run, Tilton on the Hill was supposed to be 29.5 miles from our starting point and we were closing on that distance rapidly.

However, someone had miscalculated, at around 30 miles we came across yet another incline, I remember saying “the end is at the top of this hill guys, come on!” We ascended the hill only to find a sign informing us the Tilton on the Hill was another 3 miles way. The air of dejection in the group was tangible, however those who do Parkour will know that traceurs are used to dealing with difficult training and this was no exception, we pushed onward.

With morale down and muscles at breaking point we arrived of the foot of one more hill, the group was fatigued and hungry and almost stretched to breaking point, when the support vehicle came past and Niki informed us that our goal was “just up this hill”. That was all the incentive we needed as we made one final push to conquer this last obstacle, and as promised the Sign for Tilton on the Hill came into view, there was one final dash for the finish and finally, after 5 hours of running we could stop and rest with our mission accomplished.

My thoughts immediately went to Sticky, who is doing this on a daily basis to support the Motor Neurone Disease Association. My run was completed, but he had to get up and do the same the next day, and the next. What he is doing is truly phenomenal and I urge you to donate to the cause and provide help in whatever way you can.

I would also like to thank Niki who drove the support vehicle and provided us with water and food along the way, her support made the whole run more manageable.
I’d run 33 miles; triple my previous best distance on a run, more distance than a marathon, a long way in anyone’s book, and definitely one of the best experiences of my life. However it is only three percent of 1000 miles, I hope this blog conveys to you what a herculean task Johnny is undertaking.

For more information on the 1,000 miles of Parkour and to donate visit:

www.stickyparkour.com

- Dan