MTV’s Ultimate Parkour Challenge Season 1 Episode 2 Recap – For the second installment of Ultimate Parkour Challenge, MTV mapped out a course on Venice Beach in California.

After last week’s live challenge, it was pretty clear that these courses were definitely challenging enough for these elite competitors and that the Parkour practitioners needed to stayed focused to avoid a catastrophic injury.

For their Hype video, Team 1 decided on an “Elements of Parkour” theme, with an artistic concept of Parkour as Earth, Water, Air and Fire and integrated the strengths of their practice with skateboard feature tricks.

Team 2 took a more down-to-earth approach with a theme called, “Will Flip for Food,” that showcased them as street performers on Venice Beach, putting out their hats and  performing for cash.

Team 1 had its moments, especially in the creativity portion of the challenge, but they fell short in showcasing group movements and teamwork and in the end, the Hype video challenge was taken by Team 2 whose teamwork really struck a chord with the judges.

The Finals was again a speed challenge over a demanding course. That means if the practitioner is more of a flip guy, it costs him in the Finals. This will change next week when the Finals is a Skills course.

First up was Michael Turner from Santa Barbara, he did well until the end when he couldn’t stick a front flip and it looked like he landed a little funny – never a fun feeling but he looked like he’ll be alright.

Daniel Arroyo from Tampa seemed to have trouble keeping his feet under him from the get-go. A couple of time penalties for missing a couple of flips cost him but at the end, he looked happy just to have finished in one piece.

Ryan Doyle’s story about overcoming a devastating leg injury where he snapped his shin in half shows his focus and dedication. While his run was uneventful, he proved to everyone that he can still shine as an elite in Parkour.

Tim “Livewire” Shieff had a rough go of it and really looked as if he was trying to make up time near the end of his run. He looked a bit frazzled by the time he hit the finish.

In the end, first up finished in First Place and a stunned Michael Turner did his crowd proud.

Be sure and check out the show online at MTV.com just to see that 18 foot tower that was showcased in the Finals.