Climbing
Climbing’s a very popular sport in the UK with a very long and proud history. The joy of climbing in the UK is the beautiful scenery and fantastic views, so how would this work in urban Manchester? Gareth asked Adam Donovan, an amateur climber who took part in the buildering event, what he thought:

‘I think today was about young people adapting to their urban environment…I think that’s wonderful how adaptive young people can be. It’s a shame though if they live their whole lives in the greyness of the city and never see the UK’s beautiful countryside.’

The urban life
Traditionally, extreme sports fans have turned to the great outdoors to chase their adrenalin kicks. Recently though the UK has seen a surge in the popularity of urban extreme sports.

Parkour
Parkour, developed in France, involves jumping over buildings and street furniture, climbing trees and roofs and generally moving around the city using nothing but your body. Although, it could be seen as anti-social, it is a sport that involves skill and imagination. Many young people are taking it up to improve their fitness.

Mark, 22, from Clitheroe told Valentini, ‘Parkour is fun, a bit like playing out for adults and the city is your playground! It is very physically demanding.’

Urban Games
Urban sports are becoming so popular that big cities like Edinburgh, Bristol and Manchester are organising an annual event called ‘The Rat Race Urban Adventure’ where anyone can take part in various races around the city. A new breed of climbing, called buildering (see fact file), was just one of the events on display at a recent ‘Rat Race’ event in Manchester. Valentini and Gareth, two TrendUK reporters, went along to check it out.

Getting involved
Urban games is about getting out there, doing what you want, being a bit rebellious, a bit extreme and doing something new and exciting.

I thought the buildering was fun, I liked that I could join in for free, and of course it was great exercise and convenient compared to driving out to the countryside. I agreed with Adam though, buildering isn’t as good as the real thing!

Valentini and Gareth
December 2006/January 2007