If you go out on Tom McCall Waterfront Park on a sunny day at noon, you’ll see a spectacle: hundreds of runners in brightly colored shoes and clothing streaming by. Once in a while someone will stop to stretch or do a few pushups, but running is nearly exclusively what people do here for exercise.

Granted, the river is a great place to run. There are paths on both sides and bridges that connect a very popular 3 mile loop (perfect for a quick lunch hour tempo run) with river paths beyond to link longer routes. Still, why is this virtually the only form of exercise people perform here? Continue reading →