What to know
- Scientology speedrunning is a new TikTok trend that has gone viral since its debut in March.
- On Sunday, 300 young people swarmed the Church of Scientology in Vancouver in an attempt to run through the building as fast as possible.
- So far, people have tried to speedrun Scientology buildings in Los Angeles, New York, and Vancouver.
- Toronto has two active scientology buildings, but no speedrun attempts have been made yet.
It seems like you can speedrun anything these days, including most bizarrely, Scientology.
Beginning with a viral video posted on TikTok in March, Scientology speedrunning has become the latest disruptive trend making the rounds on social media, where people attempt to swarm, break in, and run through Scientology buildings as quickly as possible.
Over the weekend, the trend made its way to Vancouver.
On Sunday afternoon, approximately 300 young people attempted to crash the Church of Scientology headquarters on West Hastings Street in Downtown Vancouver. The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) helped disperse some of the chaos, but the crowds returned later in the day at 5 p.m.
Dominic Tomkowicz, a political science student at the University of British Columbia, posted a video to his Instagram showing a crowd of mostly young men gathered outside the church, climbing on awnings and signs, and clashing with VPD officers.
Where did the trend originate?
The Scientology speedrunning trend is inspired by the video game speedrunning community, where gamers try and finish a game as fast as possible, often using software glitches and loopholes.
The first speedrunning incident occurred in Los Angeles on March 25 at the Church of Scientology Information Centre. TikToker isDurpyy filmed himself running through the building shouting the name Xenu, an upper-level figure in the church’s teachings. A few days later, he collaborated with another TikToker named Swhileyy, filming themselves running into the Information Centre. The video was taken down, but got 90 million views.
On Saturday, before the Vancouver speedrunning incident, a small group of people attempted to speedrun through the Church of Scientology in New York City.
Is there a Church of Scientology in Toronto?
There are currently two active Scientology buildings in Toronto, both located in the East End.
The Church of Scientology is on Danforth Avenue, near Victoria Park and the Scientology Life Improvement Centre is on Broadview Avenue. There have been no reported cases of Scientology speedrunning at both locations.
Although, people in Toronto are already asking about speedrunning in this city. In a thread on the subreddit r/Toronto from a couple days ago where a user asked about active Scientology buildings in Toronto, the top comment says, “Why, organizing a speed run? I’m in!”
