GM from O’ahu 🌊
We’re here for a few weeks and just scouted 3 new Apex Speed Runs to set soon in Honolulu, Kaneohe, and Waimānalo.
We also just finished switching all of our Apex HQ email stuff to Substack.
Starting today, this is the main Apex email list where we will keep you up-to-date with our latest news, blogs, athletes, coaches, schools, programs, communities, etc.
Here’s what we have for you today:
🗓️ 2024 year in review
🧠 Apex Remote
⏩ Apex Speed Run
🏆 Competitions
🔼 Apex Denver
🔴 TEDNext
🥳 New Year sale
Olof Wood, Urban Life Speed Run, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
🗓️ 2024 YEAR IN REVIEW
Wow, a lot happened with Apex in 2024! I’ll do my best to keep things short and simple so we can get through it quickly. If there’s anything that you want to discuss or learn more about, hit reply and let us know.
🧠 Apex Remote
As of 2024, the Apex L1 Parkour Coaching Certification is officially accredited by USPK, the national governing body of parkour in the USA! This is a big step to help us deliver even more value to coaches via higher trust & reputation, better/cheaper insurance, etc. Also in 2025, we’ll offer an Apex L2 Parkour Coaching Certification for the first time! More info coming soon.
In January 2024, we launched the Power ↑ Program to help athletes level up their power moves. Throughout the year, we also made lots of minor updates to our existing programs: Parkour 100 Series, Parkour Strength Online, & Coaching the Climb-Up. If you’re an owner who hasn’t logged in for a while, please go see our sleeker visuals, better text, cleaner software, etc, and let us know what you think!
Even though it wasn’t a priority in 2024, we still added 500+ new clips to the Apex Movement video library. Check out all 1500+ parkour movements, progressions, and drills for free on my YouTube and the Apex YouTube.
Since 2014, I’ve done part-time individualized programming and remote coaching for a roster of 5-15 athletes at any given time throughout the year. In 2024 and for many years prior, I worked closely with Taylor Carpenter, Joey Jepsen, and Megan McQueen—and all 3 had a big year of athletic gains, as well as sport & professional successes! If you’re interested in our individualized remote training and want to hop on the waitlist, go here to learn more & apply.
⏩ Apex Speed Run
On Jan. 1, 2024, we asked, “Who are the fastest outdoor speed parkour athletes in the world?”
After 1 year of building our IRL speed run game prototype to objectively and precisely answer our question, our data shows that Taylor Carpenter, Joey Jepsen, and Olof Wood are all definitively in the conversation of the world’s fastest.
However, to find out exactly how elite they are, we still need more data. We need to 10x and 100x our total number of players and runs so we can draw more meaningful conclusions. We have a plan to achieve this but we’ll need more help to make it happen. We’ll scale Apex Speed Run to the next level in 2025. More details soon!
Apex Speed Run’s mission is to make parkour more accessible through a global network of speed runs IRL that gamify public spaces and incentivize public health.
Apex Speed Run currently includes:
81 courses set in 49 cities and 13 countries
300+ locations identified in 100+ cities and 50+ countries
300 runs completed by 70 players
Top athletes like Taylor Carpenter (World Chase Tag Pan-Am champ/MVP, SPL speed podium x2), Bekah Jackson (WCT USA MVP), Olof Wood (WCT world champ), Joey Jepsen (USPK speed parkour national champ), & Kaden Lebsack (American Ninja Warrior champ)
🏆 Competitions
Apex athletes Megan McQueen and Joey Jepsen journeyed to Pharr, Texas for the USPK National Parkour Championships. Joey took first in speed and Megan took first in speed and skill! This is the 2nd year in a row resulting in a gold sweep of speed parkour by Apex athletes.
In August, Joey, Megan, and Taylor all competed in the SPL Parkour World Championships in Vancouver, BC. Megan took first in skill and second in speed! Joey and Taylor also finished top 10 in speed. Megan is the 7th SPL/NAPC champion from Apex Denver/Boulder.
In April, Apex Moon and Apex Nemesis competed in the WCT6 World Championships in France. Apex Moon athlete Damian ZumTobel won the best chase award with a buzzer-beating dive tag out of the Quad!
🔼 Apex Denver
Apex Denver still stands strong as our flagship physical location and community hub for many of our top athletes and coaches. On any given day at Apex, you’ll likely run into a few of our top coaches, pro parkour athletes, and World Chase Tag veterans. This year, we invested heavily in some big improvements to the main gym space and reception/front room. Come stop by if you haven’t seen it yet!
After hosting the first USPK Nationals in 2023, our 2024 competition season was more chill. However, we still held multiple local and regional competitions for all levels in speed parkour, freestyle parkour, and challenge parkour. Some of our coaches and community leaders also took on big volunteer roles to make the greater USPK/SPL circuits happen and we appreciate their contributions!
Whenever I’m in town, I make it a point to attend Apex Denver time trials because of all the diverse athletes who train speed every week. Most classes result in at least a few elite runs but all levels can complete the courses too! I’ve filmed 3000+ speed runs in Apex Denver over the past few years and am hoarding them for a new project coming soon!
🔴 TEDNext
Back in October, Taylor crushed a parkour talk and performance at TEDNext in Atlanta, Georgia. Please correct me if I’m wrong but I’m pretty sure this is the first time parkour made it into a TED main event versus a TEDx. Taylor’s talk isn’t online yet but we’ll let you know when and where to watch!
Taylor prepped hard for weeks leading up to this short moment in which she had the added pressure of speaking AND performing parkour—at the same time, all on her own. Did I mention it was her first public speaking gig ever? I was so nervous for her that I genuinely couldn’t watch parts of it live from the front row, but she nailed the whole damn thing and the crowd loved it!
🥳 NEW YEAR SALE
Thanks for being a supporter of Apex throughout the years. We appreciate the time and attention you give to us and our communities. As a small token of our appreciation and to kick off the New Year, we’re offering 30% off select Apex programs through January 3. Choose from:
Use code: "turtleduck30" to save 30% through January 3 at 11:59 pm Pacific time.
Whew, that’s all for now! I’ll send a few more updates later this week and then we’ll leave you alone for a while.
Thanks for your time and attention! Hit reply if you have any questions or concerns and we'll get back to you soon.
Keep going,
Ryan
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