AMERICANS FINDING WAYS TO STAY ACTIVE WHILE KEEPING DISTANCE

Vicki L. Friedman always wanted to play golf with her adult sons but until this spring couldn’t find time to learn the game and practice.

Shaun Warkentin was looking for a diversion when his young sons tired of jumping on the backyard trampoline and being indoors. He discovered the joy of taking them fishing.

Neighborhood and park trails across the country have been getting higher-than-usual use by runners, walkers and bicyclists as people find ways to get fresh air while maintaining social distancing during the coronavirus outbreak.

Golf courses are welcoming more beginners and people returning to the game, states have seen robust sales of fishing licenses since the coronavirus hit full force in the U.S. in March and fitness tracking technology has shown a surge in the number of steps recorded.

Friedman, who lives in Chesapeake, Virginia, took up golf at age 54 after the community college where she works ordered employees to do their jobs from home. That gave her more than an extra hour a day she otherwise would spend commuting.

“When you see what’s happening around the world, you prioritize and ask yourself what are some of the things you want to do,” she said. “I’ve always been geared toward work. Right now you want to invest in yourself. What else do I want to do that is fun?”

Friedman goes to the driving range a couple of times a week, hits plastic wiffle golf balls in her backyard and, as a Mother’s Day gift from her son, went to a course for the first time and was treated to nine holes. She said on a recent afternoon she was about to play her fourth round in three weeks with the set of used clubs she bought for $30.

“This is a way we can spend time together outside,” she said. “It’s something new. I like sports, and it’s fun. It is more addicting than I would have ever dreamed.”