By Kate Kealey, Des Moines Register
After three years of running around Gray’s Lake on Monday evenings, members of 515 Run Club walked the two-mile loop holding trash bags.
The slow loop Monday, May 4, came as organizers of the 515 Run Club challenged the Des Moines Parks and Recreation Department’s requirement of permits to continue the voluntary weekly running. The city is requiring the organization to pay $4,300 for their weekly runs at Gray’s Lake in 2026.
Wearing athletic attire, a group of roughly 100 runners walked the Kruidenier Trail and picked up any trash along the path. The goal was to leave the park “even better than they left it,” said Nico Robinson, co-founder of 515 Run Club.
“What I want us to do is send a message to Parks and Rec,” Robinson said on May 4 outside of the Lauridsen Ampitheater, where the group starts its runs.
The running group began with two Des Moines natives, Robinson and Anthony Arroyo, training for a marathon in 2022. Weekly runs at Gray’s Lake have since grown to see anywhere from 75 to 150 runners at 7 p.m. every Monday.
“It’s super important what we are doing for the community because Des Moines doesn’t have stuff like this,” Robinson said. “I know we are in uncharted territory a little bit, and it does feel a little bit weird.”
Why is Des Moines Parks and Recreation asking 515 Run Club to pay for use of Gray’s Lake?
The 515 Run Club has no membership fees, roster, requirements or sponsors. But Des Moines Parks and Recreation has classified it as an organized event. Under the parks code, any events that are advertised or impacts the normal use of a Des Moines park are in need of a permit. The parks department warned 515 organizers that if they failed to pay the $1-per-participant trail fee, Des Moines police would assist with enforcement.
At first, organizers paid $120 to the parks department based on the average estimate of the runners 515 Run Club gathers weekly at Gray’s Lake. Des Moines parks officials later told organizers they needed to pay the fee for all 36 planned runs in 2026, bringing the total to at least $4,300.
“Our concern is not about refusing to follow the rules,” Robinson said. “It is about the lack of clarity surrounding how those rules are being applied, and whether that application is consistent.”
While organizers view the fees as steep for use a public space, exempting 515 Run Club from the requirements would be unfair to other park users and organizations, said Ian Knutsen, recreation superintendent for Des Moines Parks and Recreation told the Register.
“In the case of the Trail Event Use Fee, we treat all organized groups fairly and equally and are committed to maintaining strong relationships with every organization and event using our facilities,” Knutsen said in an email to the Register on April 28. “Not requiring a fee for one event or group would be unfair to the others and do a disservice to taxpayers.”
Permits also maintain safety and the parks in case of scheduling conflicts, Knutsens said. The city alleges there have been cases of vehicles parked in restricted areas and trail obstruction at Gray’s Lake during 515 Run Club’s Monday meet-ups. Organizers of 515 Run Club say it is unfair for the department to claim parking violations at Gray’s Lake were committed strictly by club members.
“Unfortunately, police enforcement is sometimes necessary in parks to support public safety,” Knutsen said. “Enforcement has been requested previously for 515 Run Club due to other park users’ complaints of vehicles parking in nonparking areas, which creates safety hazards, increased maintenance costs and limits public access to the park and emergency services’ access to Gray’s Lake.”
The 515 Run Club facilitates two other weekly runs ain addition the one at Gray’s Lake. Every Friday morning, roughly 20 people under the aegis of the club meet for a run starting at the Women of Achievement pedestrian bridge connecting downtown to the East Village across the Des Moines River. The parks department informed 515 Run Club that another trail-use permit was needed, charging the group roughly an additional $20 per weekly run in 2026.
“We’re not here to make noise,” Robinson said in an Instagram post on May 4. “We’re here to make meaning, and if that becomes something that needs to be defended- so be it. This is the hill we’ll stand on (and run on).”
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