By Starla Pointer • Staff Writer • 

Oregon freerunner featured on Jones Soda root beet bottles

Submitted photo##
Local freerunner William Bonnett is featured on a bottle of Jones Soda performing a stunt off a lifeguard tower.
Submitted photo## Local freerunner William Bonnett is featured on a bottle of Jones Soda performing a stunt off a lifeguard tower.

William Bonnett was happy just throwing himself off and over obstacles as he competed in freerunning and parkour. He posted clips of his exploits on Instagram and other social media sites, and traveled to train and compete with other freerunners he'd met over the Internet.

Then Bonnett, who started running and flipping when he was growing up south of Amity, received a email from the folks at Jones Soda. They wanted to feature him as one of 15 extreme athletes and artists on their labels

"Awesome! I'm super happy," said 19-year-old, who is featured on 150,000 bottles of root beer.

The label, which he calls "cool," shows him diving off a lifeguard's tower into the sand. Soda buyers can point their cell phones at a link on the label to view a video of the same feat.

It took Bonnett years of training before he was diving off towers. After seeing YouTube videos about parkour when he was about 10, he started running in the fields and jumping off and over equipment in his family's cherry orchard.

Eventually he found a parkour gym in Salem, where he started supervised training indoors, with cushioned mats in case he fell. The gym recently closed, but he still trains extensively, often a three-hour daily session that includes 100 flips.

"It's a whole-body workout, one of the main things that keeps me in shape," said Bonnett, who also enjoys skateboarding and snowboarding.

Free running, which he compares to gymnastics, and parkour, which he says is about precision jumping, are activities almost anyone can do, he said. It's good to start early, at 10 or 11, like he did, he said. Then athletes need to train their bodies, adding more tricks as they master the skills.

"It's about pushing themselves and overcoming fears, so they'll try more and more," he said.

With enough practice and determination, he said, they may catch the eye of Jones Soda or another sponsor, too.

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