1st Free Running World Championship

Sponsored by Barclaycard, the first free run championship took place at Camden’s iconic venue, the Roundhouse. The championships saw the Roundhouse play host to a specially constructed free run course, designed to test the skills of 20 of the very best free runners in the business. All the runners completed the course to their very own soundtrack, and were judged by their peers.

The World Free Running Championship showcased exactly why this sport is rapidly becoming one of the most popular in the world, bringing an impressive display of athleticism, fitness and freedom of expression to the Roundhouse. Since it began in Paris in the ‘90s, free running has taken the world by storm.

Free running is a physical art, in which participants (free runners) use the urban and rural areas to perform movements through its structures focused on freedom and beauty. It incorporates efficient movements from parkour, adds aesthetic vaults and other acrobatics, such as tricking and street stunts, creating an athletic and aesthetically pleasing way of moving. It is commonly practiced at gymnasiums and in urban areas that are cluttered with obstacles.

The term free running was coined during the filming of Jump London, as a way to present parkour to the English-speaking world. However, free running and parkour are separate, distinct concepts — a distinction which is often missed due to the aesthetic similarities. Parkour as a discipline comprises efficiency, whilst free running embodies complete freedom of movement — and includes many acrobatic manoeuvres. Although often the two are physically similar, the mindsets of each are vastly different. The founder Sébastien Foucan defines free running as a discipline to self development, following your own way.