One of the greatest things about London are the many and massive parks dotted all over the city and if you don’t have an outdoor space your local park has been the ultimate sanity saviour since lockdown descended. Gyms not open? No problem – welcome to the new franchise of outdoor exercise spaces with zero membership fee and no sweaty changing rooms..
Everyone has clearly been trying to stay fit since Corona descended and this pursuit of cardiovascular activity in the absence of everything else might have irreversibly shaped the nation. Will people just give up on their healthier lifestyles now that normal life has resumed? Will you no longer see people who have clearly never jogged before, puffing and panting their way round, seemingly always on the verge of ‘breaking thru the pain barrier’ or having a full blown heart attack? I already miss those sneaky little fakers who, when you could only leave your house to exercise, were just pretending to do whatever so they could hang out in the park, occasionally lifting a leg to the sky in case the odd cop strolled by.
I actually find just watching people exercise exhausting let alone doing it but I commend their attempts nonetheless. It did appear that everyone had come to the same conclusion which was basically, if I am fitter maybe the evil virus won’t get me. What I find kinda strange is how many people have taken up boxing. Everywhere I go there are people ‘boxercising’. As if they can literally ‘beat the virus’ into submission. Either that or they think they need to toughen up in case society completely falls apart and we have to start fighting each other for food. I don’t know how likely that is anytime soon but out of all the sports to take on at this moment, it’s a weird one because it is impossible to do and keep a distance and not have contact.
I do however love this appropriation of public space and even though they are busier than probably were before lockdown they are still calmer and more relaxed places to be than on the streets. Next week I will feature other activities that the parks have absorbed since everything closed. The question will be, when things reopen will people return to the established venues or continue with this alfresco approach to everything? It will be weather dependent but it looks like its going to be a long hot summer…