🌊 Apex Speed Run: Hawai'i recap

Aloha friends,

While visiting Hawai’i in early 2024, we set 2 of the very first Apex Speed Runs—Pali Speed Run & Kānewai Speed Run. This winter, we came back to grow the project with the local parkour community. I’m grateful for all the support we received and proud of everyone for working so hard on their runs.

Now, the ASR project features 9 challenging courses set in outdoor, public spaces around O’ahu. With our recent course expansion, the Honolulu metro area now has more ASR courses than any city in the world except for Denver, Colorado. Here’s a recap of the recent progress:

• 9 courses

• 3 cities

• 12 players

• 63 runs

FULL APEX SPEED RUN MAP, STATS, ETC → APEXMOVEMENT.COM/ASR

• 88 courses

• 52 cities

• 13 countries

• 72 players

• 342 runs

FULL APEX SPEED RUN MAP, STATS, ETC → APEXMOVEMENT.COM/ASR

Local standout Liam Kim leads the men’s rankings in Hawai’i with 6 course records and a 98.29 player rating. Showcasing a maximally smooth and efficient style, Liam makes each course look so easy that you’ll be uncomfortably humbled once you see and try the course IRL 😂

Kane’ohe native Taylor Carpenter leads the Hawai’i women’s rankings with 7 course records and a perfect player rating of 100. In addition to her clean, powerful runs, Taylor consistently pushes the ASR project forward through location scouting, course setting, organizing speed jams, and editing highlight reels.

1 of O’ahu’s parkour OGs, Matt Jang owns 2 Hawai’i course records and an excellent player rating of 90.97—which becomes more impressive when you notice the sandals and bare feet! Matt’s 10 speed runs have earned the most views of any ASR player so far (8M+).

The original Hawai’i speed run and my favorite, Pali Speed Run is located in the immaculate Koʻolau Range and features breathtaking mountains and ocean views. This course begins with a tricky ascent, followed by slick walls and rails throughout, and ends in a curious cliffside carving.

The most popular Hawai’i speed run (10 players), Kaka’ako Speed Run features a natural, straight-shot speed run that ascends and descends a daunting hill near the waterfront. We recommend running this course later in the day and sticking around for an epic sunset overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Arguably the most stunning location on our map so far, Makapu‘u Speed Run requires you to hike up a mountain before taking on the course. At the top, immerse yourself with 360 views of the island and ocean before hurling yourself down a relatively direct speed run across concrete blocks, rails, and volcanic rock.

If you only have a short time to cruise our Hawai’i speed runs, the University of Hawai’i at Manoa features 3 in a relatively compact area (UH1, UH2, & UH3), plus Kānewai Speed Run which is technically off campus but within walking distance. UH is also 1 of the classic parkour training areas on O’ahu so you can also find plenty more spots and challenges.

While most of our speed runs feature narrow margins of victory (1-5%), Liam blew everyone away on Kānewai Speed Run, outperforming all other players by at least 12.4%. His course record run is a nearly perfect display of speedy, well-rounded skills across rails, up walls, and through tekky twists and turns.

• 60 seconds of Hawai’i speed run highlights! Check out some of the best moments and movements from every Hawai’i course and player.

• What does it look like to run an ASR course? Matt Jang has already amassed nearly 5M views on his POV speed run videos!

• 2 Apex Speed Runs in Hawai’i are now listed directly on Google Maps. Or you can find all 9 Hawai’i courses on the main ASR map.

• Justin Veneema ran into us mid-session on Pali Speed Run. A famous photographer noticed us in the wild and made this viral photo/video post to share our training process.

Mahalo nui to the Hawai‘i parkour community for running, setting, and growing this movement. We couldn’t do it without you 🙏 😊

To join Apex Speed Run as a player or setter, hit reply and I’ll let you know the best way to get started in your city/country. Anywhere on Earth is fair game 🌎 🌍 🌏

Cheers,
Ryan & Taylor