Interview: Sticky

Sticky, aka Johnny Budden, is a parkour artist who has been on the LeftLion radar since we first did a photoshoot with him back in 2005. Since then he’s gone on to train film stars like Jude Law, been flown around the world to show off his talents and has sponsorship deals with dozens of global companies. But right now, as you’re reading this he’s probably running. Because he set himself a monster of a challenge to cover 1300 miles on foot for charity, which is taking him from John O’Groats to Lands End and then onto Paris… 

You’re a Nottingham lad aren’t you? How did you first get into parkour? 
Yes. I grew up in West Bridgford and then moved to Beeston. I went to the Beckett School and when I got home I’d go out training. I was playing at county level for quite a few sports and it got to the point that my Dad said that I needed to specialise in a sport. I saw a BBC commercial with one of the guys who started parkour and I felt visually lifted. So I started doing it myself and as I got better I was commuting a lot to Paris, Birmingham and London to train with other guys. This was when parkour was a baby, and if you were to tell people about it, they wouldn’t have a clue what it was.  
 
So where did this idea for the 1,000 miles come from? You were training up the Royal Marines, right? 
Yes. That’s not really where the idea came from, but that’s where I realised I had potential I wasn’t using. The Marines need to get around efficiently so they called on us to teach them the fundamental moves of parkour like getting over walls and low obstacles and things like that.  In return for that they said I should come to their base and go through the Green Beret tests and I managed to get through it first time. 

You take this very seriously, you don’t drink and you work out every day… 
Yes. It’s a whole lifestyle.  People do parkour for different reasons. Some people do it because they want to get out of the office and have a bit of a blast in the evening. For me and all the people I train with, it’s all our lifestyle. It’s like how you wake up in the morning and make sunny days really sunny and wet days seem wettest. Your body is a temple. But it’s the only temple where you have to wear your trainers. It’s all about finding limits and pushing them and pushing them. Every guy realises what is and what isn’t possible for them through experience and I think I've finally done that.  
 
Do you still train with Sebastian Foucan (one of the sport’s founders)? 
Sebastian is going to be at the Eiffel Tower waiting for me at the end of this mission. The Eiffel Tower is the final public place and once I’ve touched that I will feel like I’ve finally arrived in Paris. After that I will run to the place where parkour came from which is further out of Paris.
 
So why did you choose to do this in aid of Motor Neurone Disease? 
I first thought about other charities like the British Heart Foundation and Cancer Research.  But a friend of the family, a GP in North Wales, asked me if I’d thought about doing it in aid of the Motor Neurone Disease charity. I started researching it and watching videos and I was absolutely gobsmacked. You hear interviews of people who have the disease and they feel so imprisoned in their own bodies. So I thought that my movement could be used to help their lack of movement.
 
What are the rules of this? 
I’m going to start the run with an ultra marathon and run 100 miles from John O Groates to kick off the whole event. That will be non-stop and will take over 24 hours, so I won’t be able to sleep or anything like that. Then I will carry on running until I get to the first city, which will be Inverness. Then I show people some parkour, jumping off subways, balancing on railings and all the other stuff you’ve seen us do on TV.
 
So where you stop running is where you sleep? 
Yes. I couldn’t live with myself if I were to get into a car or taxi for literally just two seconds. I’m going to run to exactly the place that I will sleep and then I will carry on the next day from that place. When I get to Paris I will feel like I haven’t cheated one bit and I will have run 1300 miles.
 
Presumably you're going to be getting a ferry over the channel? 
There have been a few people who want me to swim it, but I think I’m going to have to let them down! It will be frustrating for me because I am the kind of person who when on the ferry will be looking at the water thinking that I should have at least attempted it. I have thought about it, and if I could double my donations I would think about it but it’s a very ‘out-there’ idea at the minute and I will be booking onto a ferry at the beginning of my journey.
 
What back-up have you got on this? Have you got people following you around making sure that you're staying in good health? 
Yes, I have. The Royal Marines physical training instructors have been really supportive. I've got physio checks and guys from Parkour UK and Parkour Generations, who are the big teams in the UK. They have loads of expertise. I've got them checking me over and I've got doctor’s appointments before I go. When I actually go Vauxhall are providing me with a car which my girlfriend will drive, with all my nutrition and equipment in. I will be carrying a lot of water bottles myself but because of the sheer amount of food I’m going to have to eat there is no way that I could carry all of that on my back.
 
So what would you say to anyone who fancies trying out a bit of Parkour? 
These days too many people try and dictate how you learn, but all I would say is start slow. Work on the fundamental movements and if you find one way easier to do than another then do it that way and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.