Wednesday, July 25, 2007
People recognize Jared Suppasansathorn by the utility belt he wears everywhere he goes.
When asked why he wears it, he calmly answers that he uses it in case he wants to do a handstand.
“Sometimes, I just feel like doing a handstand somewhere. I used to carry the stuff in my pockets but all my change would fall out.”
For Suppasansathorn, a graduate student, doing random handstands on the street is not uncommon. He does “freestyle running,” a physical art where runners try get through everyday obstacles as smoothly as possible by jumping or climbing walls and doing acrobatics, among other things.
“It’s like you make an obstacle course of the world and you just run through it,” Suppasansathorn said.
Suppasansathorn remembers a time when he saw a man climbing a wall and jumping off of it to a railing on campus. He said other students looked at him confused and disapprovingly.
“It’s something that you are sort of conditioned not to do and that is exactly the reason to do it,” Suppasansathorn said.
Suppasansathorn said that he had been climbing walls and jumping over obstacles his whole life. But recently, a friend invited him to go to Topeka on Thursdays with a group of others who “freestyle run.”
Ptoldly Brenner, who “freestyle runs” with Suppasansathorn on Thursdays and has asked for his nickname to be used in the story, said “freestyle running” in groups had a lot of advantages.
“There is a little bit of competition, ” Brenner said. “But doing it in groups helps us push each other and share tips on how to do things.”
Walking downtown, Suppasansathorn suddenly stops and stares at a brick wall that looks “interesting.” In the blink of an eye, he is already several feet away from the ground, grabbing onto bricks.
People walking by do not seem to mind the man with a green utility belt and hiking shoes climbing the wall. He touches the top of the wall and lets go, falling with both feet on the ground. He continues walking.
“In day-to-day life you are supposed to just walk down the sidewalk, you are supposed to just take this certain path and, you know, that is sort of annoying,” Suppasansathorn said. “I want to cut through the grass, I want to jump over the bush, I want to do a handstand on the trash can.”
Brenner said that “freestyle running” gives freedom. “I definitely feel freer than other people,” Brenner said. “You do feel like you are video game where you can go whatever you want to go without anyone stopping you.”
Suppasansathorn talks with a soft voice. He describes himself as being shy, yet he is not scared to jump from a building downtown.
“The more I do it, the more I find myself just doing things., Suppasansathorn said. “If I thought more about it maybe I wouldn’t have done it because I was too embarrassed or scared.”
Suppasansathorn keeps walking down the street with his green utility belt and khaki shorts. He stops in a grassy area and does a handstand. All of his change remains intact in his pockets.
— Edited by Joe Caponio
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