As I was walking down the high street near where I live, I was intrigued by three menacing hoops, each fitted with deadly objects. That’s when street performer and busker, Liam Collins (@thestuntrunner), started speaking on a megaphone. He was encouraging people to step up to the green rope on the ground to witness his death-defying performance up close while staying safe. He then proceeds to baffle us all with a performance seen nowhere else on the planet.

This inspired me to interview him so without further ado, you can hear from the man himself!

Tony: Hello Liam, uh so, could you briefly explain what got you here to this point doing such an incredible stunt?

Liam: Well, I was world champion for the hurdles for Great Britain, uh 60-meter hurdles in South Korea, I won the gold. And after I retired, I decided to do something else with my skills rather than coach it. I wanted to still perform it so I turned my skills as an athlete into skills as a stunt performer. I mean I learned the art of street performing, gathering a crowd, getting paid, getting them to like you, that kind of thing, you know. I've not mastered it yet, but it's a work in progress, and every year I increase the danger a little bit so, this is the most dangerous version of the show.

Tony: You mentioned briefly that you were the world champion, so that's quite a switch going from you know Olympics to performing.

Liam: Well, I was actually a street entertainer all throughout my Athletics career. I used to do various Street shows to raise money to pay for the Athletics. So then, it was an easier transition, I'd already had the structure and I already had been performing throughout the years. So for me, doing a stunt involved hurdles was easy to me, oh no I say easy, easier than learning to juggle, or ride a unicycle, or something. Because this was just an extension of my motor patterns and the skills I already had as an athlete you see.

Tony: I see, and could you briefly explain what your stunt is?

Liam: I run like a hurdler, leg-first through three frames. The first one is 20 metal spikes, second one is 26 metal knives, and the third one is 20 Balls of Fire, and I go through wearing a blindfold.

Tony: Right and you mentioned you wanted to up the ante, so what’s next?

Liam: I don’t know if I’ll up it next, uh other than the hurdles, I’ll gradually pull them further apart because, when I race and I still race, I just won the bronze at the world championships for my age in Poland a month ago. And the problem is when you go to racing, the hurdles are further apart. So for me to get used to the spacings again, I got to pull them apart further in the street, which makes it more difficult here. People don't appreciate it because they just see you running but for me when you pull them apart it's much harder.

Tony: I guess people didn't really catch that but you mentioned you do this BLINDFOLDED, how did you get there?

Liam: Um started just with one eye, one eye closed and then doing it where with just where I could see slightly through, and then, gradually, just got better and better at it you know. And I did it I worked at Blackpool on the beach during lockdown as well did a lot of work on lockdown and then just got better at it you know.

Tony: And looking forward like what you see this evolving into do you see this as a long-term path?

Liam: I don't really know I'm just gonna do this on the streets, I live in my motor home, I'll probably do it for another few years and that'll be me. After that, I'll do something else. I'm 45 this year so as you get older, it becomes harder so at some point if I want to stay and do it, the hurdles will probably have to get a little bit lower, and a bit bigger. But um, yeah I like to challenge myself so yeah we'll see.

Tony: I see and are you like at all afraid?

Liam: Um, not so much afraid, I've fallen before doing it and I know what it feels like to hit the ground, and I know what it feels like to slip up and know oh I messed it up I'm gonna hit the ground. And um, you get better at it it's never very pleasant but as long as I keep remotely to the middle, then you know, the fall will never be that bad. The worst part is clipping the frame on the way up because then you know you're getting in a tangle to mess with it.

Tony: So yeah thank you very much for your time!

Liam: You're welcome

The video above shows the stunt from start to finish

Hope you enjoyed this one, it’s slightly different to my usual content. I’d love to hear from you, have you ever considered performing on the street? Would you ever attempt something as dangerous as this? Leave them in the comments below or tweet at me. If you enjoyed this, consider leaving a like and sharing it with someone who might find it interesting!

Until next time,

Tony

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