For some, coping during the coronavirus pandemic meant learning to bake, binge-watching TV or keeping up with friends over Zoom.
But Boulder residents and longtime partners Kathleen Kennedy, 90, and Larry Stafford, 86, made a different goal for their suddenly empty schedule — to visit every park and open space in Boulder.
“When the pandemic hit in March this year, we needed to plan for more walking to replace our time with friends,” Stafford wrote in an email. “Since we were getting bored with the same walks over and over again, we decided to expand and set goals.”
Kennedy and Stafford met on a hike organized by the Sierra Club in 1984 and have spent the last 35 years traveling, hiking and staying active together. They’ve walked a lot since moving to Boulder in 2017 to be close to Kennedy’s son Brian Kennedy, but their goal this year was to expand their walks beyond the paths near their South Boulder condo.
The couple compiled a list of 107 parks, trails and open spaces across the city and are checking them off, giving themselves credit for walks they have already taken since moving to Boulder. Kennedy and Stafford have checked off 95 locations, 49 of which they walked this year.
To make it on the list, a location must be in city limits, have no more than 200 feet of elevation gain and be walkable in less than one and a half miles. The list includes city and neighborhood parks, open spaces, trailheads and lakes.
Kennedy and Stafford have seen nearly every style of home architecture imaginable and learned more about Boulder’s history, but they rarely see other people on their walks.
“Because we do our walking mostly in mid-afternoon, these are lonely walks. We meet very few people and our masks are usually at half mast on our faces,” Stafford said. “We were surprised to see almost no one our age on the walks, so maybe the elder community is different here.”
So far, Kennedy and Stafford’s favorite spots include Fortune Park, a “miniature surprise” that only took them 152 steps to walk but still featured a community garden, beds of blue irises and a lawn.
In Maxwell Park, the couple shared their walk with 11 deer and watched as a large stag moved the herd around the park.
When not walking, Kennedy and Stafford join Zoom meetings for their senior center art book group and their condo book group, which have expanded to include much more about the personal lives and difficulties of the members than previous, in-person meetings.
They also spend more time in front of screens, Kennedy said.
“The pandemic has caused us to spend more time at night in front of the tube,” she said. “Now we have less information to go on about how our neighbors are doing.”
Kennedy and Stafford have 12 locations left to visit on their parks quest.
For those looking to follow in their footsteps with pandemic goals, Kennedy’s advice is simple: “Be moving and physically active to keep healthy and mentally alert.”
