This could very well have been a “love the way we love” posting about how awesome it is to live in a city with parks like the Citadel and the Public Gardens. That is until, in the middle of my Sunday afternoon jog (to the casual observer it would be more like a fast walk), I was summoned over to a Commissionaire in the Public Gardens who warned me that I could be fined $225 for jogging in the park and that I should have read the bylaw that is posted as I entered its domain.
To me, this is an absolutely RIDICULOUS bylaw in this age of rampant obesity where we should be promoting exercise. So, good luck catching me in your Tonka tractor when you try to issue me one!—Fugitive Park Runner
This article appears in Apr 22-28, 2010.
You want to run in a park, run in Pt Pleasant. The Gardens rule is no running so stop being a dick.
welcome to soviet halsucks comrade.
omfg tha t frigg’n park has more damn rules than a freaking nuclear missle site and what’s the deal closing in the winter anywho ?
I swear to fuck, if another “jogger” flies past me downtown in any of the parks, I’m gonna ensure to trip them. The rules are there for a reason, people use the Public Gardens to walk in, and if you don’t like having to run elsewhere, well, join a club or buy a treadmill.
But hey, then there would be no reason for you to spend hundreds of dollars on Running Room jogging equipment, and another 200 on a pair of Saucony shoes, just so you can look the part. It’s not fucking Central Park, assholes.
And if you sit on the grass, they shoot to kill….
There are plenty of places to run in this city (I should know, as I do it as often as I can) without disrupting the peace and quiet of the public gardens.
Dr. Fever: what’s with the hate for joggers? Not all of us are just out there to look cool.
That is kind of a ridiculous rule.
Not really. That park is used by old people and lovers out on a stroll, not for future Usain Bolts.
Its a park for people to do prom and wedding pictures in. Go back to jogging with hoards on Spring Garden Road ya douche!
Just what the Gardens need – a bunch of goddamn joggers prancing down the paths – as if this fucking city isn’t swamped with people who jog the city sidewalks, sometimes three and four abreast. It’s like a Nike wall heading right for you.
As an ex-jogger who only used Point Pleasant as a jog trail many moons ago, I will be interested to see how many joggers end up with the bum knees like I did. Oh, the irony of those who think they’re keeping fit only to find out the damage they did decades later.
Good thing your Daddy tells each one of you how fast you can move on two legs. This is what happens when you don’t pay attention or think your government is your new Daddy after you leave home. Do Canadians NEED to be told by their government if they should crawl, walk or run through any crown-owned park (aka ‘BELONGS to the people of Canada’) or piece of wilderness? LESS government is MORE. We don’t need government to make these kinds of rules, let alone such a penalty, for their misbehaving constituents who dare move however the fuck they want to on their own two legs. What part of this doesn’t ring ‘dictatorship’? Not much. WHY would Canadians want government to have such control over how human beings move around on their own two legs. Insane!!!
I would suggest that, unless it was a parade of joggers (warranting a sporting event) a single jogger in the park isn’t going to ruin anybody’s fun for very long. WHERE is the common sense police had BEFORE they were cops?
omfg i agree with Kay 100 %
What i find absolutely unbelievably funny is people who jog/run on roadways & sidewalks, who think its good for them ! Do you have any idea just how much damage your doing to your knees & ankles ?
Your going to be suffering when (if) you get older.( I say if, because most of you seem to forget there are VEHICLES on the roads as well) You want to run, run an a proper track designed to lesson the impact on your body, run on unpaved walkways, like those on many trails or like they have in PPP.Even better run on grass ! You might get yourself slim & trim running the roads, but that’s not going to do you much good when your in a wheelchair, because your leg joints don’t operate any more !
While I’ve never been a runner ,I used to ride motorcross, I have broken a bunch of bones & damaged tendons & ligments, soft tissue injuries from hard riding dirtbikes & I’m paying for it now that I’m older.
So I’m not saying don’t run & have fun…I’m just saying you might want to try not to damage yourself, because even though you heal, you never get back 100% again !
i think jogging is for morons actually it just shouldn’t be an offence anywhere
jennier: The problem I have with runners downtown is that they travel in packs, decked out in about $500 worth of gear, and they think they own the sidewalk. I know that’s not everyone, but it’s a majority of them. I happens a lot along the wide stretch of asphalt along Lake Banook. You get runners and cyclists there. It’s a fun combo. I’m just tired of being plowed over because you’re jogging.
they basically want you to treat the commons like a an old ladies formal dining room.
Or like a mom scolding a kid in a candy store.
Don’t fuckin’ touch anything… hands off… don’t even think about.
Last…tuesday, I think it was I had a migraine and was just heading to the bus stop on southpark/sgr and these annoying shrill group of girls running in a pack came up behind me with the most shrill yelling back and forth to each other I have ever heard. And when they got to the intersection the pack leader yelled “EVERYBODYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!” and laughed at me whe I turned around all “wtf?”
I wanted to trip all of them as they jetted past me in the cross walk.
The thing that gets me is the entitlement some runners have when they come barreling down streets like spring garden during the busiest times. Go find someplace else to run where the sidewalks aren’t croweded with people walking at various paces, because I hate being tailed, and the next runner who get up on my ass when I’m walking down the street is going to get tripped when they attempt to pass me.
Runners annoy me *almost* as much as people who bike on sidewalks.
You know zZz , little old ladies have the right to a place they can enjoy too. Anyone ever notice right beside the Public Gardens is this huge green hil with a fortification on top of it ?
I’ve never seen a don’t walk on the grass sign there & people fly kites , walk it, lay out in the sun…so why not jog around it ? Hell, you want a work out…run up & down it a couple dozen times & i’m willing to bet even the most avid jogger would walk after that bit of activity.
What is the Public Gardens in size anyway ? a city block ? 2 blocks ? Seems to me a 2 block area for little old ladies & those who want to hang out with them, or just stroll in the area isn’t too much to ask. But then again that’s me & I have no problem with people doing what they want,& having a space with a few rules different from other spots… if it isn’t hurting anyone else.
Hey, More, I’ve got bone chips in between my knee bones so now I walk with a slight limp, the result of wear and tear of running and jogging for more than 20 years. These people are kidding themselves if they think they’re not doing damage, especially on sidewalks.
hey, I didn’t make the rules… and don’t enforce them.
there are plenty of other places to jog near by.
truth be told, I actually like the no-touch, off the grass policy…
cause everywhere else you go in spring there are fucking flowers cut everywhere from douches who don’t want to pay for them… dead or fallen trees…. etc…
I don’t run downtown, that’s stupid. I don’t know how anyone could possibly keep their pace steady with having to stop at every other intersection.
I do run along banook, it’s a shared use trail and it’s fairly wide. I take care to not run into walkers, I give them warning if I’m coming up behind them and I’ll run on the grass if there’s not enough room for me to pass. I think most of the joggers on that path are fairly courteous.
Joggers and cyclists are the most self absorbed bunch of people plaguing this fair city.
I hear you TTFN…& I can feel your pain, I’ve got a similar problem.
Even though I don’t deserve any sympathy…it is after all self inflicted, but as a young guy no one ever told me that getting busted up would come back & haunt you big time later in life.
So now I make sure I mention it to those who are into the same things, as a courtesy & so that they can’t make the same claim that I am ~;) …you have been warned. It hurts now, it hurts when you heal…& someday down the road it’ll be back & you’ll be stuck with it. Now if i could just figure out how the hell I’ve got arthritis in both thumb joints, not the one at the bottom of your thumb, the ones that hook the thumb to the wrist. twice I’ve had “liquid gold” injections & they are great for a couple of months (actually its more like 6 +) but I still have trouble with the damn things. But i’ve never broken them, I don’t even remember hurting them in any really bad way…but they’re arthritic & it’s bothersome. But I’ll wait until the damn things refuse to function before i go for more injections or steroids etc.
You should be a role model of which all runners aspire to, jennier 😛
Running *is* murder on the knees. When I was recovering from my accident which tore my ACL and MCL in my right knee, I was instructed to stay off the treadmill at the gym and focus on the eliptical. The eliptical is GREAT for a low impact work out — I find I get a major cardio work out when I get on that thing and my knee doesn’t feel like falling off when I get off of it. Granted, I HATE that machine with a passion because no matter how in shape I am, it still kicks my ass. What’s also awesome for a low impact cardio work out is the recumbant bike. I don’t find my heart rate goes up a whole lot, but it works my legs out and loosens up my knees and ankles quite nicely — great for a warm up before resistance training.
You git it Kay – the Nanny State is in full force 🙂
Downtown Halifax is hardly the best place to go running OP, too many people and interruptions. I know there’s a group that runs through Burnside in the evenings after 90% of the traffic goes away, and there are several parks meant for this activity. As well, Beaufort has been nicely renovated to be more runner friendly.
Point is OP, you’ve got options.
The Banook trail is fine for the most part jennier, but I’ve been nearly run over by some bimbo teen more than once. Luckily, they probably wouldn’t survive the impact, mostly because a 90 pound waif couldn’t survive an impact at 5 miles an hour, but that’s beside the point.
Downtown runners run in that area do so because they want to be seen. They’re comprised of 3 distinct groups. The first group are the Ultra-Serious runner types who live, breathe, and fuck while running, they’re usually 40+ women who think they’re a “MILF”, or they’re bored because Consuela the maid is doing the dishes and making dinner. The second group is the University Girl crowd who wear Lulus and do it to look good for anyone with a popped collar. The third and final group is the Hipster Chick who wears an ironic T-shirt complete with shorts from the 80’s, so that they can prove that running reduces their carbon footprint, all the while promoting awareness for Pitchfork.com. This group is very similar to the Hipster Bicyclist who drives a single gear bike with a basket. Wanna take a guess as to who is in it for the exercise?
It’s not a “running park”.
People in wheelchairs, the elderly, folks with strollers, lovers walking hand in hand etc don’t want to have to dodge you as you come bounding towards them.
Find somewhere with a wide enough path for everyone, or go to PP Park.
Enjoy your limp in ten years.
The PG isn’t really a “park”, it’s a formal Victorian garden. Not a suitable place to go for a jog.
kitty, how are you still even alive?
you’ve got more shit wrong with you than keith richards…
I’m like Rasputin, zZz (without the OMGHUGE dick). You’ll have to poison, shoot and drown me to kill me 😛
yeah, you’ve got the Mr Burns syndrome where everything is canceling everything else out.
That’s called the Three Stooges Syndrome! Move it, chowdah head!
A partial list of PK’s conditions:
– Torn ACL and MCL
– PCOS
– Frequent ear infections
– Diabetes
– Anxiety disorder/panic attacks
– Inflamed gallbladder
– IBS
– Chronic pneumonia/bronchitis
– Undisclosed condition that requires heart medication
– Digestive enzyme deficiency
–
She comes by it honestly though:
– Dad has COPD (he’s never smoked a day in his life OR he quit 22 years ago – depending on the day she’s posting…)
-Mom has seizures
stalker alert pk…rawk rawk
I think she had the gallbladder removed, didn’t she?
so that’s one off the list.
The “no sitting/walking on the grass” rule kills me. ..I just. don’t. understand. Parks are for picnics and cloud watching and walking barefoot, damnit!
Would you have a picnic in the deep end of the skate park? Different parks for different things. The Public Gardens is a public gardens. What is so hard to figure out about this?
That is one creepy list HH, even if all our messages are archived. You also left out that I now have that Boney M song stuck in my head thanks to her *shakes fist*
I’ve always been amazed by PK’s laundry list of ailments, and can’t help but wonder if she’s not just a hypochondriac. It took me about 30 seconds to find those references in her past messages – and I only went back a couple of pages!
you forgot that she moonlight as a metro transit pole dancer.
now that I’m getting bus passes… I’m SO just taking random buses to see that shit.
actually, I think she listed a few routes…
I have nothing now but time….
Stop complaining OP…. the Public Gardens is a slow-paced, green floral getaway from the center of downtown. Last thing I want when I go there is to hear the panting/heavy breathing and smell the odorous secretions from people who have countless thousands of miles of sidewalk to run on in the HRM. You’re lucky they DIDN’T fine you….. and you’re still bitching because they WARNED YOU that you COULD be fined if you do it again.
So you’re a fucking asshole in taunting the commissionaire and basically inferring you will be continuing to do something you know is wrong. If I see you running by me as I try to enjoy the sounds of nothing and scents of grass and flowers I will (wish I could) stick my foot out and send you plummeting to the ground. Then I’ll yell for a commissionaire to come over and serve you with your pre-warned fine. OK- no I won’t do this…… but you’re still an asshole.
They should have fined you, then you’d actually have something to bitch and moan about.
Jonno… get a coping skill… a better one! By your logic the guy could walk by with his headphones too loud and too much sunscreen and look at you go all ape-shitty! Oh, and learn how to read while you’re at it. There was no warning, just a $225 fine. If you want to sit there and hear nothing realize you’re in a CITY!!! If country livin’ is what you want there’s LOTS to go round if you can’t find enough in your own backyard.
If you want a law for every little thing have you stopped to consider such laws can work both ways? Like, the skateboard park… creating a stupid law saying your MUST be riding a skateboard to move through that park… well, that’s just STUPID and UNREASONABLE, isn’t it? The reverse is no different.
Fuck, some of you people are controlling ASSHATS. I think you should all move to China where dictatorship is embraced by all the stupid little people who can’t think for themselves nor act on “common sense”. Here in Canada we like reform and we like our freedom. I think the OP should start a petition telling the gov’t it’s not their business to dictate how a person is to move on two legs through ANY public park. We pay good money to have that and look at you fuckers thinking such laws appropriate for bad bad Canadians who need to be told everything including how to move on their own two feet… shit.
If you want a park for seniors then build a park for seniors. Put a lock on it and charge each one of them as they walk through the gates becuase after that it’s NOT a PUBLIC park and you can make whatever rules you want and even hire your own security guard to enforce your PRIVATE PARK rules. Public money earmarked for public infrastructure is to service the PUBLIC *gasp*, not just “some” of the public who agree to move their bodies in a certain way. Geesh.
kay is that right. I believe public roads are regulated to tell users how fast, where, and how to go. You know those silly things called speed limit signs, directional signs, traffic lights, etc. Just because something is public doesn’t mean you can do whatever the hell you want.
I accidently clipped a runner at night here in CGY with an elbow to the head that ran right up behind me and i reacted because I didn’t know what was up . Clean just ran right up on me and scared the crap out of me .
As for the park – the streets and everywhere else . Running is all yours people . Run forest run if you have too . But single file it past instead of group massing the sidewalk . That can intimidate some people ( like old people) . Sidewalks especially downtown is for pedestrians traffic , not some group of assholes running during lunch and rush hour .
I think there should be a 225 fine for being a pretentious fucking running prick .
Ever try driving down Point Pleasant Dr and fine evening? The asshole joggers also feel that it is their right to run up and down the right hand lane making it impossible to safely pass oncoming cars. All this while the sidewalks are unused,not to mention the entire network of trails in Point Pleasant Park.
Bro, we weren’t talking about HIGHWAYS, buildings nor buses. We didn’t speak on ferries or city sidewalks either. We’re talking public PARKS. Get it? Try hard to be less obtuse and see what happens. You’ll try anything once, right?