By day, Malaysian-born Dubai resident Abudi Alsogoff is a mild-mannered content creator and photo/video editor with a Dubai production company.
By night, he can be found scaling some of the city’s tallest towers and free running around its urban spaces.
Alsogoff is one of the stars of Urbex, a new urban exploration show now streaming on Red Bull TV that shows off their skills. He is also sponsored in his own right by the energy-drink maker.
Alsogoff discovered free running, or parkour as it also known, in his native Malaysia.
“I first got into the scene years ago, and was always looking for new places to train,” he says. “It’s not always about high places, but more about places where people don’t often go, where we can do our training and share our passion with the world on video.”
That said, he admits that there is a special thrill to scaling tall towers.
“I remember one of the earliest climbs we did was an abandoned hotel in Malaysia, where me and my friends could climb through all 60 floors,” he says. “We did it at night, when nobody was around and it was kind of scary at first sitting up there looking over the city.
“It was the first time we’d been up in such a high place and we got some great shots. I guess that was how we started it off.
“The second time we went to another site and climbed up the tower just to enjoy the New Year’s Eve fireworks. But a lot of the time we just train in parks or around the city, then climb up a tower at the end of the day.”
In fact, tower-climbing thrills are not really free running at all, he says.
“It’s probably true that the higher you go, you get more attention. But it becomes more of a stunt rather than what free running is really about. Stunts are what you do to to impress people, while free running is more about training.
“I have friends who do a lot of stunts but they want to be stuntmen – it’s not so much about free running for them.”
When he moved to Dubai, the futuristic cityscape offered the ideal background for Alsogoff’s heart-stopping hobby – and, unsurprisingly, he has his favourite spots.
“JBR is definitely the best spot for free running,” he says. “There are endless places there – you could spend the whole afternoon just working your way up JBR, there are so many good spots.
“For roofing and urban exploring, I’d say Dubai Marina and Business Bay are the best spots. The view high up in the Marina is always nice.”
One thrilling scene in Urbex shows Alsogoff performing a “human flag” manoeuvre atop Marina 101, where he hangs horizontally, like a flag, from the building’s spire.
Although the stunt looks terrifying, he says safety is always his number-one priority.
“I wasn’t taking any risks,” he says. “I was just using my physical strength to push up my body. I was at the top of the building, but there was scaffolding underneath me so the drop wasn’t actually that big.”
Alsogoff says the care he takes means he has never had any serious injuries as a result of his daredevil pastime.
“I haven’t really had much in the way of injuries because I’m very careful with what I do and do a lot of planning,” he says. “I always do lots of training so I’m in the best shape, too, so I’ve only had your normal injuries, such as sprains – nothing major.”
Alsogoff’s work with Red Bull TV has given him a taste for being on camera. He will film a video with Red Bull later in the year and says he would love to break into the film business.
“It would be a dream to be in a movie,” he says. “But because most Hollywood films are shot in the US, most of the roles go to free runners in the US.
“I guess I just have to work my way up and try to come to the attention of the movie people. It would be an amazing opportunity.”
cnewbould@thenational.ae