Setting aside all the mental and physical health benefits, exercise can only lead to crippling self-doubt, infantilism, and adultery. Here's yet another reason never to get off the couch: exercising can get you in trouble with the law. That's what happened to Peter Shankman this week when he was given a summons for running in Central Park too early in the morning. "Most people who've gotten in touch think it's a bogus charge, and have mentioned end of the month quotas as a reason I didn't just get a warning," he told us today.

Shankman, who is an "author, entrepreneur, speaker, and worldwide connector," was stopped by cops around 4:30 a.m. on Thursday morning while running near 85th Street on the East Side of the park. Here's his account of what happened, via Facebook:

At 4:30 this morning in Central Park, at mile 2 of my ten mile run, I was stopped by the police and given a summons for exercising in the park "before it opened." Apparently, Central Park doesn't "open" until 6am, and my exercising (running) in the park before 6am is illegal. Note - Running in the park. Not "performing sex acts for crack," or "laying down explosive charges," but "running." Because apparently, a 215 pound man running through Central Park at just over a 9:10 pace is a threat to Manhattan. To answer the question of why I was running so early - I needed to do ten miles today as part of Ironman training. If I didn't start that early, I wouldn't be done before my first meeting of the day. A "hey, buddy, the park doesn't open until six, you need to run on the sidewalk outside" from the police officer wouldn't have sufficed? Apparently not, since he made it clear that his boss was in the car with him, so he had to write me up. I now get to go to court in May and fight this. What a waste of taxpayer money, and my time. Ridiculous.

Seeing as how he's someone who is "redefining the art of networking," he also tweeted his frustrations:

I just got a SUMMONS for running in Central Park at 430am "before it opened." ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME NEW YORK CITY? — Peter Shankman (@petershankman) February 27, 2014

Here's my actual summons for running in Central Park this morning "before the park opened." SMH. http://t.co/cWDRl3Bkoi — Peter Shankman (@petershankman) February 27, 2014

It's almost 9am, and the good news is that I haven't been given a summons for anything so far this morning. — Peter Shankman (@petershankman) February 28, 2014

Technically speaking, the cops were right: Central Park is closed between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. But Shankman says there was no signage where he entered the park at 63rd Street and Central Park West indicating this ("No gates, no signs, no traffic cones blocking my way"), and he's done this early morning run before without a hitch.

"Knowing the law now, I get the spirit of it, i.e., the park closes at 1 a.m. to avoid people sleeping on the benches, or camping out, or etc," Shankman told us. "But I don't feel I violated that—I didn't "break the curfew" by staying out late—I came in early to workout. And therein lies the irony—I was trying to get in better shape—exactly the point of all the other laws the last 12 years have seen, from no smoking in bars to no big gulps full of sugary sodas."

Shankman added that the officer who wrote him the ticket was completely professional and doing his job: "Could he have just given me a warning? Sure. But I don't think for a second that he was rude, or bullying, or anything like that." He plans on fighting the ticket in court.

At least he learned a very valuable lesson: exercising is never worth the risk.