Peter Shankman's morning 10-miler took longer than expected today when he was stopped a couple miles in and given a citation for running in Central Park before the park officially opened.

Shankman, a networking guru who has given TED talks, was running with a friend as part of his training for an upcoming Ironman. The duo had started their run a little after 4 a.m. "because that was my only time to get the run in today," Shankman told Runner's World Newswire. They were running up the East Side when, Shankman said, a police car pulled alongside them, and an officer asked, "Can you stop running?" After telling Shankman the park was closed until 6 a.m., the officer gave Shankman a summons, timed 4:27 a.m., that cites "1 AM Curfew" as the type of offense.

Central Park regulations available online state that the park is closed between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. Shankman said that the only prohibition stated where he entered the park, at 63rd Street and Central Park West, had to do with where bikes can be ridden. According to Shankman, the officer who issued the citation said that the curfew isn't enforced after 5 a.m.

"I've been in the park constantly before 5 a.m. and have never had any crap from the police," Shankman said. "I've waved to them."

Representatives of the Central Park Conservancy and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation told Newswire they don't keep a record of how often citations are issued for exercising in the park before 6 a.m. because they're not enforcement agencies. The New York Police Department didn't respond to phone calls or email before this story was published.

Shankman, who set his marathon PR of 3:58 at the 2006 New York City Marathon, said, "I've always loved the police. I'm the guy who yells 'Thank you!' during the marathon."

Shankman will fight the citation during a May court appearance, and said his lawyer has assured him it will be overturned at that time.

What happened to the rest of Shankman's run after he got the citation?

"We ran down Fifth Avenue over to 59th Street, Central Park South, and ran back in the park at 5:01," he said. "Either way, I'm getting my 10 miles in."

Scott Douglas Scott is a veteran running, fitness, and health journalist who has held senior editorial positions at Runner’s World and Running Times.

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