The familiar gravelly voice carried over the parking lot Saturday morning at Kansas University’s Lied Center.

“This is a day you’ll learn to do them without using your knees — 11 pushups,” Don “Red Dog” Gardner said, smiling.

In response, 92 men, women, boys and girls went to the wet pavement, some laughing, some groaning.

They continued the short warm-up before the weekly Red Dog’s Dog Days Saturday run, which took them three-plus miles on a hilly route through the heart of KU’s campus and back.

Red Dog’s Dog Days, a free community workout program, is in full swing in its 21st summer.

The 30- to 40-minute workouts are at 6 a.m., noon and 6:15 p.m. Monday through Thursday at KU’s Memorial Stadium. Saturday runs are 6:30 a.m. and 7:45 a.m. at the Lied Center.

“I would encourage everybody to come out and give it their best,” said Ellen Young, a Lawrence woman who has been participating since 1997. “He (Gardner) always tells people to do what you can do. It’s a lot of fun, a good group of people and a wonderful support group. We’re like a big family.”

Few rules

Gardner has only a few rules: Check in before the workout. Don’t bring personal stereos. Don’t bring cell phones. Work out with the group. Bring a drink. And don’t overexert yourself.

He also asks participants to bring their aluminum cans. And Gardner puts out the word to businesses for donations to help pay for the T-shirts.

Keith King, left, and Michael Miller, both of Lawrence, make their way down the hill below the Campanile at Kansas University during an early morning session of Dog Days. Runners often sprint up the hill as part of their workouts.

The big change this year has been tougher workouts.

“We stepped it up,” Gardner said. “We’re working harder right off the start. So everybody has to work into it and use their head.”

Dog Days also has been attracting more people.

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About 300 participate in the morning and 400 in the evening, Gardner said. About 80 showed up Thursday at the first noon session, but Gardner said he expected that to increase to 150. Some people attend multiple sessions.

Junior high, high school

The workouts are attracting more junior high students this year. And Free State High School’s football team and a lot of the junior high football teams plan to participate in the summer drills, he said.

Also in the last week, a lot of high school girls were coming to work out together.

“It’s always been a great workout, and I just enjoy staying in shape,” said Lacey Burnett, who will be a Lawrence High School senior in the fall. “And coming up here, it’s always entertaining to see lots of people I know.”

Gardner’s nephew, Nick Nelson, a Kansas University sophomore from Baldwin, decided to participate this summer.

“Before, I never really cared to get in shape. But I figured this summer was as good as any time to start,” he said.

A typical workout consists of running a few laps around the track, about 10 minutes of calisthenics, then a more intense exercise, such as running up and down the bleachers, up and down Campanile Hill or up and down the stairs from the stadium to the KU police station in KU’s Joseph R. Pearson Hall.

“You can run as hard as you want and you’ll be dead at the end of the day, or you can also take it easy,” said Ryan Wedel, 29, who’s been a regular at the workouts for three years.

‘I’m in shock’

Gardner, 65, is a retired Lawrence police officer who works as a security guard. He started the Dog Days program with fellow officer Jim “Punkin'” O’Connell as a way for high school athletes to stay in shape. But it has grown through the years into a communitywide fitness program.

Twelve volunteers help him lead the calisthenics. And eight volunteers work with Gardner’s wife, Beverly, to check in people at each workout.

“The hardest part is checking everybody in, which we want to do so they can get a T-shirt,” Gardner said.

Those who come at least 22 times to any of the workouts get the shirt, which will be handed out at noon Aug. 6 at the stadium. Those who make it at least five times to the Saturday runs will get a special Saturday T-shirt.

“It’s a good bunch of people,” Gardner said, smiling. “I’m in shock that they all do it.”