Parkour hobby spreading across western Maryland

HAGERSTOWN, MD. — Nineteen-year-old Elet Hall isn't a traceur — a practitioner of the alternative urban sport of running, jumping and climbing over manmade structures — because he wants fame or intense action.

Action movies such as "Casino Royale" where James Bond actor Daniel Craig demonstrates parkour skills in the opening scenes don't motivate Hall to be super-fit or famous.

"Say somebody fell out of that window there," said Hall, 19, of Smithsburg as he trained in a downtown Hagerstown parking lot. "You need to get to them quickly and there's a wall over there. You can't take the time to stop and climb over that because this person's life is in danger. So you vault over that quickly and run to their help."

Before he can do that though, he spends a lot of time leaping up walls twice as tall as he is and jumping over much shorter walls.

"Parkour is what you might do if you're trying to get somewhere as quick as possible or run away from something as quick as possible," said 25-year-old Brian Belida, a parkour aficionado from Frederick. "It's all about efficient movement, very fast movement — getting from here to where you're going as quick as you can."

He and Hall are trying to increase the number of western Maryland parkour enthusiasts — traceurs and traceuses — compared to urban centers like Washington and New York City.

Every Saturday, groups train at Baker Park in Frederick and use Americanparkour.com and other Web sites to learn more.

"I train alone most of the time because there's not as many people training out here as there are near D.C. or Baltimore," Hall said.

The sport began in France, Hall said, as David Belle used his father's firefighter training and urban environments to train in vaulting, jumping through windows and running straight up walls.

"I look at it as a discipline," Belida said. And it comes with risks and pain. "It actually helps to build up calluses," Belida said. "The first time I started doing parkour I tore up my hands pretty bad."

Hall also trains barefoot because he wants his body to be more natural and desires to train naturally and be closer to parkour's roots.

"To be as close to where our bodies would be, you would train barefoot and with as little clothing on as acceptably possible," said Hall. "So, no shoes."

For him, that's only the beginning of a new life because of parkour as he learns more about facing challenges.

"It teaches you responsibility over other people and helps you know confidence in your entire life of saying I can overcome that obstacle," Hall said. "If somebody needs help, I can help them. You don't feel you have to defer to a higher authority. You're self-reliant. You can take care of yourself and take care of other people."

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Information from: The Herald-Mail of Hagerstown, Md., http://www.herald-mail.com