The ironies are rich. Children wear $150 athletic shoes to give their fingers a workout on PlayStations. Parents buy 21-speed mountain bikes for their kids and then drive them everywhere. And school districts that for decades allowed everyone to use their tennis courts, tracks and athletics fields are upgrading them to meet the latest high-tech standards – and locking them up.
It’s enough to make Lee Carkenord’s perfectly managed resting heart rate and low-average blood pressure soar.
“I’m very, very bitter,” he said.
The unabashed running enthusiast is a testimonial to the benefits of vigorous exercise.
He started running six years ago to get in shape for a hunting trip in Alaska. It improved his strength and stamina and made him feel better, so when he returned from Alaska, he just kept going. The weight on his 6-foot-1 frame melted from 200 pounds to 160. His cholesterol and blood pressure dropped. He slept better. He was hooked.
So until recently, you could find Carkenord at the track at Lincoln High School most mornings, putting 40 miles a week behind him in a safe environment that was forgiving of his 62-year-old back, knees and hips.
On weekends, he would take neighborhood kids there to teach them about running, to organize games for them and encourage them to stay active.
But all that ended when Denver Public Schools completed a multimillion-dollar renovation of facilities at several schools. At Lincoln that meant new turf on the football field and a $1.2 million rubberized running track.
It also meant the installation of a 10-foot fence with a sign that says: “Private property. Denver Public Schools. No trespassing. Permit required. Violators subject to arrest.”
When he first saw the sign, Carkenord figured this would be a short-term inconvenience. He would simply apply for a permit and resume his running regimen.
He was wrong.
The process requires a permit for each use of the track with a $25 application fee, a $140 custodial fee and a minimum $1 million in insurance coverage.
He appealed to the school district administration, to City Councilwoman Jeanne Faatz and to School Board member Michelle Moss, all to no avail.
“I really want our schools to be very public places where people can use and enjoy the facilities,” Moss said, “but people abuse them.”
Before the fence went up, adult athletics leagues would use the field on weekends, leaving mountains of trash, broken bottles, dirty diapers and human waste (there are no outdoor toilets) in their wake. Vandals spray-painted graffiti on the tracks. One group had a barbecue on the football field at Manual High School and dumped burning charcoal on the new turf.
Carkenord didn’t dispute that. In fact, he said, when he still had access to the track at Lincoln, he frequently would clean up the mess irresponsible users left behind on weekends. “It was disgusting. People literally would defecate under the bleachers.”
But he still thinks prohibiting all public access is wrong.
“I paid for this facility,” he said. “I did it willingly. I’ve always supported the schools.”
DPS spokesman Mark Stevens, who is in charge of community use of school facilities, said the situation is extremely frustrating. “I completely empathize with folks who feel they don’t have access to something they paid for, but we can’t afford the cost of repairs every time some group comes in and destroys another very expensive field.”
While the city provides plenty of athletic fields in public parks, there are few alternatives to the running tracks at the schools. “Even kids who would like to train in the hope of someday making the track team don’t have anyplace to go,” Carkenord said.
Well, almost anyplace.
There is one running track open to the public a couple miles away from Lincoln.
It’s at Mullen, a private school.
Talk about irony.
Diane Carman’s column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. She can be reached at 303-820-1489 or dcarman@denverpost.com.
