On most Saturday mornings, like today, I get together with
friends and go for a long run somewhere around Denver, followed by breakfast.
Like a lot of people, I started running when challenges in
my life reached a point in which I needed an outlet. I found that outlet in
running, in large part because I met so many great people.
Running is therapy. Sometimes we listen to each other’s
problems. Sometimes we tell stories and jokes just to make each other laugh.
Sometimes we just run and let the rhythmic footfalls blend with the nature
around us.
Regardless, I always know that Saturday mornings are going
to be a comfort place for me, a place where things seem right in the world.
That’s why I was so troubled when I read articles in the New
York Times, Denver Post and Westword
about a new ordinance in Denver, prohibiting group exercise in parks.
Seriously, I wish I was kidding.
As the New York Times
pointed out – and yes, that is THE New York Times, complete with all the news
that’s fit to print – Denver is one of the healthiest cities in a country that
desperately needs healthier cities.
In this town, you can leave your house without seeing at
least one person running and another on a bicycle.
Now we’re coming up with laws that discourage people from
exercising? Are you kidding me?
Keep in mind, this is a state that legalized marijuana. We
pride ourselves on being forward thinking and creating laws based more in
rational thinking than convention (Couldn’t society benefit from getting tax
dollars from legalized marijuana? And do we really want our tax dollars going
to enforcement and incarceration for something that seems to primarily make
people lazy and hungry?)
The argument that I’m seeing is that these laws are not
intended for people who are meeting a few friends for a run, a workout or a
game of kickball. It’s directed toward the people are profiting from these
exercise groups. In other words, an entrepreneur might start a boot camp or a
fitness class or a running club, and they might meet up in a public park (side
note: I wonder how enforcement would differentiate between a paid group and a
large group of friends who met up without money changing hands.)
Why would they meet there? Because there are 300 days of
sunshine in this city, and most of us like spending time outside.
Are these entrepreneurs benefiting from the use of free
space in our parks? There’s no question.
Jeff Green, a spokesman for Denver Parks and Rec, told the Times that these groups need a permit.
On the surface, maybe it makes sense.
But then I thought about it. All of us pay tax dollars, and
our tax dollars go toward the parks. If we decide to pay for fitness classes
that meet in a park, should we be required to pay again to use that park? You
can claim that the cost is coming from the business owner, but anyone who has
taken basic business classes (or thinks for more than 1.2 seconds) knows that
it ultimately comes from customers.
I was discussing this with someone the other day, and he
said, “Are you saying that the Denver Marathon should not need a permit to run
through the park?”
My answer is that I’m not saying that at all, because there
is a huge difference. A race course requires streets and paths to be shut down,
meaning nobody else can use them.
A fitness group using the park means only that the park is a
little more crowded than it would be otherwise.
Pizza delivery drivers make the streets more crowded, but
does anyone think that the pizzerias should need an additional permit because
they’re benefiting from roads paid by tax dollars?
I pay taxes. It’s not my favorite thing to do, but I know
that it’s necessary and that I’m ultimately going to benefit in many ways –
from maintained roads to police/firefighters protecting us from danger to
schools for future generations.
One of my favorite benefits is the amazing parks and trails
systems that we have in Denver.
Why does that benefit end if I’m in a group?
