Plankers crawl out of woodwork

Also known as ‘the lying down game’ in five days since the North West Plankers site was launched on Facebook, it has attracted thousands of hits, with well over 400 people registering and planking in all manner of places throughout the district.

Planking is an activity where participants lie face down in an unusual or incongruous location, with their hands touching the sides of their body. An integral part of the game is having a photograph taken and posted on the internet, and it is this aspect of the game that seems to have sparked the imagination in the north west, for no sooner had madcap Graham Mitchell, of ‘Cullion UK City of Culture’ fame, created the North West Plankers (Northern Ireland) site than a small rash of ‘planksters’ spread the work and more and more people got the itch to be silly in a public place thanks to viral marketing. It is believed the craze came here from Australia, where it took off earlier this year.

Already the epidemic has spawned lots of splinter groups, with child plankers, animal plankers, dare-devil plankers as well as those with truly silly senses of humour keen to strike wooden poses in all manner of domestic and public places, from oil tanks to children’s outdoor play areas, landmarks to rooftops, there is no limit to the spread of sheer plankery.

“The website is doing really well, I cannot believe how quickly it has taken off. We have 50 or more people joining every day and it really is all across the north west.

“Planking is massive in Australia, and that’s where this started. I know a few folk have done some scary planks, but I am keen to promote the ‘Plank Safe’ message, because one person has died in Australia. So, if you are going to plank, then have fun but plank safe please, and don’t forget to post your planking photos on the site so that we can all see them,” said Graham.

To add to the excitement and give people an incentive to be as sill as they dare, Graham has created the ‘Planker of the Month Award’ and among the early contenders for the title are the ‘Cyclone’ and ‘Ghost Train Planker’, the ‘Bungalow Roof Chin Planker’ and the ‘Snoopy Planker’, but it is early days and with more than 50 plankers signing up each day, it looks like Graham will have his work cut out to find the most worthy of the title.

“To win they will have to be a real planker,” he joked, adding: “But please plank safe and keep it legal.”