Fitness trail

A fitness trail (more recently known as outdoor exercise equipment and also known as a parcourse) consists of a path or course equipped with obstacles or stations distributed along its length for exercising the human body to promote good health. The course is designed to promote physical fitness training in the style attributed to Georges Hébert. In general, fitness trails can be natural or man made, located in areas such as forest, transportation rights-of-way, parks, or urban settings. Equipment exists to provide specific forms of physiological exercise, and can consist of natural features including climbable rocks, trees, and river embankments, or manufactured products (stepping posts, chin-up and climbing bars) designed to provide similar physical challenges. The degree of difficulty of a course is determined by terrain slope, trail surface (dirt, grass, gravel, etc.), obstacle height (walls) or length (crawls) and other features. Urban parcourses tend to be flat, to permit participation by the elderly, and to accommodate cyclists, runners, skaters and walking. The new concept of an outdoor gym, containing traditional gym equipment specifically designed for outdoor use, is also considered to be a development of the parcourse. These outdoor exercise gyms include moving parts and often made from galvanised metal.

History

The original parcourse was invented in 1968 by Swiss architect Erwin Weckemann with support from Swiss life insurance firm Vita. The first course was built in Zurich, Switzerland.^[1] Hundreds of courses were built in Europe by 1972.^[2]

Courses built in ensuing years included:

[US] 1976 "Parcour" exercise trail in County Farm Park in Ann Arbor, Michigan
[US] 1977 Bruce Jenner Trail in the Lake County, Illinois Forest Preserve District.
[US] El Estero Exercise Course at Lake El Estero, Monterey, California
[HK] 1977 Lion Rock Country Park, New Territories, Hong Kong, featuring 15 exercise stations.

Examples

United Kingdom

Over 250 installations are found across the UK, all installed by fresh-air fitness. A Google map shows their locations Click here

Canada

Sunnybrook Park in Toronto, Ontario has a Vita Parcours Exercise Trail, along with sports facilities.

Luxembourg

Among pedestrian trails there is a fitness trail (PDF map) in the village of Steinfort.

New Zealand

Queens Park Fitness Trail, City of Invercargill, New Zealand.
Blockhouse Bay Recreation Reserve, City of Auckland New Zealand.

United States of America

California

San Francisco Bay Area

Peninsula

The first parcourse trail built in the USA still exists in the Mountain Lake Park of San Francisco's Presidio.
The Perrier parcourse is at the site of the former Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California, US. This course is open for public use.
There is a parcourse that borders the Marina Green in San Francisco.
Along the edge of the San Francisco Bay is a dirt trail parcourse at the San Leandro Marina, San Leandro, California, US.
An asphalt paved parcourse trail begins at the 5.9 mi. mark of the Bay Trail, around the perimeter of the Oracle Corporation office complex in Redwood Shores, California, US. Although the parcourse is on Oracle property, it is open to public use. There is another parcourse on the opposite (south) side of Marina Parkway, but it has fallen into disrepair.
A parcourse is located along Marina Parkway beginning near the intersection of Bridge Parkway and Cork Harbor Circle and ending near the intersection of Bridge Parkway and Portwalk Place in Redwood Shores.
A parcourse is located around Spring lake in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County CA adjacent to Howarth Park.

East Bay

There is a dirt trail parcourse projecting into the Bay in Marina Park in San Leandro.
There are two parallel parcouses on the campus of Chabot College in Hayward.
Section Two of the Lafayette-Moraga Regional Trail is an asphalt paved parcourse in Moraga, California, US.
A dirt parcourse trail surrounds Bishop Ranch 7 office complex in San Ramon, California, US. Although the parcourse is on private property, it is open to public use.
Under the BART right-of-way along Masonic Ave., in Albany.[1]

Los Angeles Area

A paved parcourse trail is available at Rynerson Park in Lakewood on Studabaker Road parallel to the San Gabriel River Bike Trail. This parcourse has 6 stations along a 1 mile loop.
Johnny Carson Park located in Burbank features a parcourse circuit with a dozen stations along a dirt path loop. It also includes a warm-up area with equipment designed to facilitate stretching.

Georgia

Waycross

There is a parcourse located in the woods surrounding Waycross College.

Ohio

In Hamilton County, OH, Embshoff Woods, Miami Whitewater Forest, Sharon Woods, Triple Creek, Winton Woods, and Woodland Mound county parks have Parcourse Trails. [2]

Pennsylvania

In Frick Park, Pittsburgh, there's a paved parcourse trail starting at the intersection of Beechwood Boulevard and Nicholson Street with 18 stations. The signs along the trail date from 1975.

Maryland

Prince George County Parks and Recreation Chernikoff Fitness Trail, Maryland, US.
Downs Park [3] in Pasadena, Anne Arundel County

Michigan

Washtenaw County, Ypsilanti, MI North Bay Park

Delta County, Gladstone, MI VanCleve City Park

Texas

In Austin, the Shoal Creek Trail features a three-station parcourse near its intersection with 30th St, Texas, US.
In Sugar Land, A parcourse is located adjacent to Highlands Elementary School at the intersection of Williams Trace Boulevard and Edgewater Drive, Texas, USA.
In Missouri City, A more compact course is located behind the LA Fitness at 5402 Texas 6, on Cross Lakes Boulevard.

Virginia

In Richmond, Byrd Park has a 1-mile fitness trail.

Washington

Maintained list of Parcours Fitness Trails in the Puget Sound area, Washington State, US.

References

Parcourse Redux - Outdoor fitness tracks ... Mike Grudowski. Outside Magazine, May 2000. Photos, examples. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
Parcourses - Where have they gone? Heather Long, Families.com, July 28, 2006. Retrieved February 7, 2007.
Old-school exercise is par for the course Jeff Nachtigal, Bakersfield.com, December 11, 2006. Retrieved Feb 7, 2007. Archived at web.archive.org, retrieved December 28, 2009.
Par Course Exercise - Outdoor Fitness for Everyone James M. Evans, American Senior Fitness Association, January 19, 2005. Retrieved February 7, 2007.
Outdoor fitness equipment [4] Guy Chaham GreenGym
Hamilton County Park District Trails Retrieved March 18, 2011.

Notes

^ "VitaParcours information" (in German, French, Italian). Vitaparcours Foundation. http://www.vitaparcours.ch/. Retrieved February 7, 2010. English tr.
^ "The Jog Strip". Time Magazine. June 26, 1972. http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,905863,00.html. Retrieved February 2, 2007.