Elemental Limerick Slackline Demo

Today my body kind of hates me. Sore shoulders, sore legs and a sore butt, all resulting from a 4 hour slackline demo & workshop yesterday in Limerick city. But it's so worth it! I had the privilege of introducing hundreds of people to the fun challenge of walking a slackline for the first time, and what a diverse range of people gave it a go! With some help and support from myself of course, safety first!

The youngest hadn't even started school, the oldest retired nearly 20 years ago. I love & admire that kind of spirit! I had a couple of rugby players, a bunch of runners of various levels, a few footballers and several housewives all give it a go and enjoy it. Oh, and more kids than I could count!

There were a couple of standout moments and absolute stars though...

One was when a father in his early 40's, heavily overweight (he said "I'm over 20stone, I doubt that line will hold me" but was reassured when I pointed out the breaking strain on the line is 2,500kg) and managing injuries to both knees and one ankle faced his fears and gave it a go. And really enjoyed it! Now, he was working hard to stay balanced but you should have seen his kids faces light up as they saw their daddy walk the 'tightrope'. Within a couple of minutes, his posture straightened, his face relaxed and he realised that he was much more able than he thought, once he let go of 'I can't' and embraced 'I can try'.

Another was when a heavily tattooed, heavily muscled, scary looking guy gave it a go. Turns out he was an MMA fighter on his way back from the gym. The poor lad's legs didn't know what was happening when he stepped up on the line and they started shaking like crazy! As it happens he was a total gentleman and a good sport into the bargain. I would love to see how he'd get on trying it before a gym session.

All in all, a really enjoyable afternoon of slackline instruction & performing. I gotta do this more often, it's so rewarding and certainly worth all the aching muscles today!