“The Bay Area’s shelter-in-place order will be extended to May 1 to curb a still-growing coronavirus pandemic, San Francisco City Hall sources said.” -John King and Heather Knight, San Francisco Chronicle

We have seen an uptick in the number of people coming to Lake Merritt in order to exercise. Exercise is deemed an essential activity during the shelter-in-place order, yet when people do it in the same area, the congestion creates a scenario that is less than ideal for containing a virus. This paradox is created by our need to get out and exercise, yet having to social distance. It’s compounded by our primitive reaction to anxiety called, fight or flight. Yes, we do run for enjoyment but when things get really bad, we run even more. There have been three noticeable spikes in the amount of distance-running in America and they were all during national crises. One of those times was during the Great Depression when marathon numbers climbed. When times get tough, we literally want to run from our problems. Hopefully, people can get exercise in a way that doesn’t create a bigger problem with spreading a novel coronavirus.