Interval work in a graveyard -- immoral??

In high school, we didn't have a track so we ended up doing many of our interval workouts in a cemetery. It never felt right, but as long as you aren't being disrespectful I think it's fine. Unfortunately, some of the kids would be laughing and messing around, meanwhile some poor guy is praying at his wife's grave.

In high school we did many hard workouts in cemeteries without feeling personally disrespectful. However, I don't remember seeing any mourners during those workouts. I'd say do time intervals so that if mourners are present you can change your route on the fly to give them space. Also, never run over graves, even if you are sure you have the cemetery all to yourself.

Get some garlic in your pocket just in case. I am sure Mr Van Helsing has website out there to prevent all the little and big nasties of running through a graveyard.

Years ago I was organizing a race in downtown Winston-Salem. The course was coming down a street that ended in a T, but had a wide walkway going straight through a Moravian graveyard. I called the rector of the home church to ask permission.

He was very nice, but politely explained that their beliefs were the graveyard was for quiet reflection, not athletic activities, and that it would be disrespectful.

That was that.

sdfgshffkjg wrote:

Putting your workout ahead of someone mourning the loss of a loved one is the fvcking definition of "full of yourself."

Get a clue.

Nonsense. You maybe surprised to learn some of my relatives are no longer with us. I would not think twice if I saw someone running in the cemetery. In fact, I view it as a nice way to "add some life" to a sad place. Now there are limits, I would not be in favor of conducting a big 5k in a cemetery because of the litter etc it would bring.

Some cemeteries explicitly encourage non-mourning usage:

http://www.mountpleasantgroup.com/New

Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto has a major urban trail cutting right through it and also markets itself on both its extensive local history and huge diversity of trees.

So long as you aren't disrupting funerals or otherwise being an ass, they welcome recreational use.

In poor taste? Maybe. I don't know. I think the whole idea of burying bodies and putting up gravestones is just ridiculous. Just a way to make money.

Definitely not immoral. This has nothing to do with morality.

Best thing about running in graveyards.......wait for it......drumroll...wait for it.......IT'S DEAD QUIET! :)

More respectful than "dog-walking."

immoral, no. Disrespectufl yes. Especially in such a large group.. afew guys would be way less intrusive and obnoxious.

You are the reason peopel hate runners!

graveyard runner wrote:

Thoughts?

Your not like to get very many of those.

"In Kant's ethics the goal is still to find moral rules and guidelines that are "objectively" valid, rules that are binding for all rational beings because they are grounded in the very nature of rationality. For Zarathustra there is neither a divine authority that could impose binding values, nor a recognizable cosmic order on which objective values could be based, nor a rationality that is common to all human beings. Thus human beings are not only independently responsible for living up to moral standards, but also for creating such standards in the first place."

Jorn K. Bramann

Well, as long as you are fine with people conducting burials on the track while you are trying to race.

we used to run tempos around a cemetery as a pack. never had a problem. obviously use your head. if someone is paying their respects, don't go flying past them. take a different route.

Springdale cemetary in Peoria, IL has some of the finest running in that area. It's publicly owned and actually a registered recreation/park area.

Both a half marathon (IVS Half) and marathon (Screaming Pumpkin) use it as a good portion of their course. The half is an excellent predictor of marathon readniess and timed perfectly for the fall marathon options.

I used to do 1000m repeats there on the southern loop. Hill training there can't be beat.

I agree with the sentiment that you need to respect mourners, don't leave anything behind, it's not a moral question, and those who think otherwise come off as judgemental.

Every year in Buffalo there's a 5K race held in Forest Lawn Cemetery, which - totally unrelated - is where Rick James is buried. This is the same cemetery where my college team does about 1/3 of our workouts. The proprietors are totally fine with the workouts, so long as both the men's and women's teams remain fully clothed while on the property. The 5K, on the other hand, is being moved to a different location this year. Bikes, skateboard, anything that rolls and is not a car are all frowned upon. Morally I see no problems.

Running cemeteries wrote:

Some cemeteries explicitly encourage non-mourning usage:

http://www.mountpleasantgroup.com/New

Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto has a major urban trail cutting right through it and also markets itself on both its extensive local history and huge diversity of trees.

So long as you aren't disrupting funerals or otherwise being an ass, they welcome recreational use.

I used to run almost exclusively in Mt. P. There is very little traffic, very good snowplowing, very scenic and was dog free until recently. The very powerful Toronto dog lobby has got the dog ban lifted. Now that is creepy. I'm sure they will reinstate the dog ban when the inevitable dog bite or dog crap on a grave occurs.

Google the high school cross country team that had worked out for years in a cemetery. I believe it is in Pennsylvania or Ohio. Over a 20 year period alumni runners began mysteriously dying, and some were even buried in the same cemetery they trained in. The school stopped training there, and the deaths ceased. Strange stuff, but worth considering.

Hundreds of people trot up Cemetary Hill in Van Cortlandt park in training and racing on a regular basis. The dead don't stir.

As with anything else you do, be respectful of others. As long as you do that, feel free to trot through the graveyard.

Have you guys seen Poltergeist?!

But seriously, better question, who here runs on golf courses (without consent)? Private or public, not allowed, but yet so fun and it's such an awesome feeling to run on the smooth grass.