Exercising in a children's play park at night.

[GlobeUs]

If you saw a lone woman exercising in a fenced children's play park (gate is unlocked at night) would you report it? The park is lit and within a square of houses, but it's a public play area.

I have an exercise plan which requires hanging equipment from a beam / branch and suspending a line between two vertical poles/trees; I am CEV. I have a degenerative illness, and although very slow, I am really keen to get back to my regime for that (and my mental health). It's one of only two things I can do that make me feel I have control over the bastard disease.

I am too scared to go to the woods or larger park at night - the woods are incredibly dark and the park has drug dealers in it (I'm not actually scared of drug dealers, I am just scared about what may happen when the gangs are circling each other).

During the day both are way too busy and when I attempted both before Christmas I had numerous people coming up to ask if they could try it out (particularly the slackline).

My concern is that outside exercise areas here have been closed off, hence what are the chances of being reported?

What do you think people will report you for?

There is (currently) no curfew, so you are free to take your one exercise outing at any time of the day (or night!)

If the gate is unlocked I assume the play park is not 'closed' so you are not breaking any rules there. I imagine there is an age limit on using the play equipment, but I would be very surprised if anyone reported you for breaching this.

It would worry me if someone thought this was worth reporting.

My concern is because they've closed the local outdoor exercise places (there's two outdoor gyms near to me and they are all taped off).

It does say on the guidance that playgrounds can be a place of exercise but I think they may be referring to children .

I live next to this type of park and if I noticed this I would not report it. If you were clearly exercising I would just assume you wanted a very quiet time.

I wouldn’t worry about it (I may find it a bit odd due to ignorance of the reason).
People can be extreme busybodies though. Could you pop a note through the over looking houses to pre-empt troublemakers?

Just do it.
You won't get arrested for exercising the wrong way.
It doesn't sound like you're doing anything reportable, but in the extremely unlikely event that you are reported and police turn up, they will probably just move you on.

Thank you very much.

I thought about the note but I am worried it may trigger them to look out and report more - I'm in an area where there's quite a big police crackdown.

I do have a letter on my phone explaining the condition so I am sure that if I was reported I would not actually be fined - it's more the waste of resources if someone reported me.

May make an A1 sign stating CEV Exercise occurring so if anyone does curtain twitch they get why I am doing it there, and in the evening.

I've had to leave the local Facebook group and Whatsapp Mutual Aid because it is all snitches going on and on and on about "rule breakers". I think that's quite possibly what's flipped my anxiety about this actually now I think about it...

What is CEV?

Personally I wouldn't even think to report it.

But I am not sure a kids park will be the thing for you....
Our local park has teenage kids drinking in it most nights....

What is the exercise that needs two trees??? All I can think of is aerial silks but may not be visualising correctly

@SimplyRadishing CEV = Sheilding list.

And the exercise that requires two poles is slackline (sort of low aerial skills, balance and coordination work...)

OP, even if someone did report you (unlikely but people are anxious and cross just now!), the police wouldn’t have any interest in attending, to a woman exercising locally... if they did you’d be able to tell them what you’re doing and why. They’d then say “oh that’s fine, enjoy your evening”.

I wouldn’t report you, but I may be worried that you could damage the equipment if used in an unexpected way assuming the exercises require the equipment to be weight bearing? I’d hate to think that you could be injured if that was to happen.

@Notmyfirstusername good point - I will see if I can find the manufacturer for the play equipment and check the weight load before I do this!

I suspect it will be OK but it is worth double checking and a very valid point I hadn't thought of.

I would probably report I’m afraid. Not because of Covid, but because the equipment is for children and my parish has had several incidents where adults have damaged the children’s equipment by misusing it in this way.

Absolutely would not report! I think that's quite a good idea op! But won't it be a bit cold? I only do outdoor exercise in daylight or first thing in the morning so I can get straight into a hot shower after. But then, I'm like a big, fat, pampered cat, who doesn't like any sort of cold or discomfort. I did outdoor bootcamp one winter and nearly cried .

I wouldn’t report if I saw you, as even without knowing the reasons behind it I couldn’t see any harm unless kids are wanting to play. Is it allowed to attach your own equipment to council owned equipment? I don’t know that you’d get in any trouble though. If you are CEV then the most concerning thing would be how many kids have been in the park in the day, but hand washing would reduce the risk. If you have a garden could you put a swing set frame up and attach it to that? I don’t know if I’m picturing it right.

@Glenorma I would just be using the support beams, not the actually play bits - I will check the weight bearing load though if I can, if I cannot I won't do it.

@ParisJeTAime I have merino! It is the best sweat-wicking, warmth and cosiness when exercising that you can ask. Bootcamp would make me cry too - I like my own pace and I don't take well to being given direction!

@GlobeUs, it was terrible. I don't know how many burpees we did, but it was a lot...in the freezing mud . Not for me please and thank you .

Good tip re merino! I just went for a run and looked a right state in my big fleece lined joggers and fleece hoody. A woman ran past me in wee pair of leggings and a gilet. Madness! Yes, she was going faster than me, but still.

@ParisJeTAime Honestly, I am in Clan Far Cough Burpees.

Merino is fab - shop around though as prices do vary for it. I've had expensive stuff and cheap stuff (TK Maxx and Mountain Warehouse) and you can't tell the difference to be honest.

The only thing I'd say is some local picnic benches were damaged over lockdown 1 by having some guys use them to jump on and off repeatedly as part if an excerise thing - they took over the whole space and were a pest, but it was midday.
Just make sure whatever you attach things to isnt going to be damaged by, or stressed in unusual ways, by what you need to do.

I wouldnt report you exercising. I would report damage to equipment.

I would report damage to equipment.

Totally understandable - I really don't want to damage equipment because literally it's the only playground that is close for parents with mobility issues and has good access for them too.

Our closest playground is still cordoned off waiting for repair from someone doing exactly this. Really sad for the kids.

During the first lockdown our council put signs up everywhere in the kids play park opposite our flat. Unfortunately it was full of adults, never kids, and it was hell having to explain to a 3 year old that they couldn't play there because of the virus when they could see the adults "playing" when they looked out the window. The adults could have exercised in the in the main park, I never reported but I thought they were out of order.

@Itmustbeheresomewhere Ok, but I think that is a different situation - I don't know many families who take their kids to the playground at 9pm at night.

@Wing1ngit again, I am not using the play equipment, I intend to use the supportive beam and will check the weight load before I do (as mentioned above). Did you see the equipment get broken? What exactly where they doing?

Thanks all, I've checked the timber weight range and it supports up to 200kgs - my chunky butt is well within that range so all will be fine!

Exercising is fine but I don't think you should be stringing up equipment on trees or beams.