Denver's New Exercise Laws

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?