For those of you have been following my previous blogs about Stroller Strides and our permit issues with the City of San Diego, I am hoping that we are nearing the final chapter. In case you have not read my previous blogs, I will give a brief re-cap.

Stroller Strides is an outdoor fitness class for moms with babies/toddlers, where an instructor provides an hour-long exercise class and the children remain in their strollers. When I first joined Stroller Strides in July 2009 we were holding our classes at Balboa Park, a 1-hour exercise class which traveled through the park in differing directions Monday thru Friday. At the time that I joined, the instructors had already been hassled by Park Rangers and told that we could not be there because we did not have a permit (a permit that does not exist). Things escalated and we moved to a temporary location at Tidelands Park in Coronado, where we have been for the last 8 months or so.

Stroller Strides’ founder, Lisa Druxman, and about 30 moms and babies attended the City Council meeting in November to bring this issue to the Council and ask for a permit system so that we could return to Balboa Park. Lisa is willing to pay a reasonable fee like she does at several other locations in the county. Months have gone by with no permit system created, and in the mean time other Stroller Strides locations including Mission Bay, La Jolla Shores and Coronado were shut down.

Luckily, the Coronado Island Marriott Resort stepped up and has allowed us to hold our classes on Marriott property while we await a resolution – thank you Marriott!

On Monday, June 14 a photographer from the Union Tribune attended a Stroller Strides class at Kate Sessions Park to take some photos of us working out for a story that was published today, Saturday, June 19, 2010. “Outdoor fitness business pursues permit from city” Click here for the full story.

The City Council is about to vote this Wednesday, June 23 at 9:00 a.m. on the new permit system. I am very hopeful that it is passed and that we can return to Balboa Park! My next post on this topic will provide the outcome of Wednesday’s vote.