Lawrence residents Clark and Marie Talley get up early to come to Sports Pavilion Lawrence at Rock Chalk Park, where they, like many, walk the indoor track for fitness.

It is too early, Lynn Metzger says.

I hear that. Actually, I feel that. I must be on mile No. 3, and the sun has only recently risen here at Rock Chalk Park.

No, no. Not early like that, I realize. Metzger and his buddy Daryl Richardson are talking about the news of the day: KU freshman Kelly Oubre leaving to go to the NBA.

Too early. Change the rules. Get an agreement with the NBA. Done. Problem solved.

“We solve all the world’s problems,” Metzger says. “What do you need solved?”

They solve them each morning as they walk inside the 181,000 square-foot Sports Pavilion Lawrence, the giant city-owned recreation center at Rock Chalk Park. They are not alone. I arrived at 6:15 a.m., and 29 vehicles were in the parking lot. Inside, there are some people on the weight machines, some on the stationary bikes, and one man working a jump rope like a lion tamer works a whip. But lots of people here seem to have embraced the simple beauty of a morning walk.

Some in short shorts. Some in sweat pants. Some in blue jeans. One guy is even reading a book while he walks. There are all types on the one-eighth mile soft-surface, climate-controlled track inside Sports Pavilion Lawrence.

Metzger and Richardson actually walk on the lower level of the building, around the perimeter of the eight basketball courts. That’s allowed too. It is a place where problems really do get solved. For the longest time the problem for the two old classmates of Lawrence High — Class of ’64 and Class of ’65 — is that they didn’t see each other very often. But then, Rock Chalk Park opened and they both found themselves out there walking. Now, they start nearly every day together with a morning walk.

Well, problems would pile up if they didn’t.

State politics, city politics, street construction, special taxing districts, the East Lawrence arts scene. The subjects just keep coming. I’m having a hard time keeping up.

That wouldn’t be the only time.

“You’re going to have to pick up the pace,” Steve Albright tells me as I walk and try to take notes with him and morning walking partner Judy Brynds. “For years I thought Judy was trying to kill me with the pace, but she won’t.”

Maybe she won’t, but what about the others? I’m talking with lots of folks today because that seems like the thing to do on a morning walk.

Lindsey Pendry and Lisa Mann walk together about every day.

“It gets you going,” Pendry says of a good walk.

But it is also a good time to catch up on important stuff, Mann said. You know, like the ridiculous one-and-done problem in college basketball. Funny thing, that doesn’t seem to get as much talk with the women. More talk about kids, family, friends and other such matters.

I guess if we want to ignore the one-and-done problem, we can. Perhaps that’s for the best anyway, because I’m thinking I should have worn my Richard Petty feathered cowboy hat because we’re starting to go pretty fast on this circular track. But darn, wouldn’t you know it, my shoelace has come untied, so I have to bid the women adieu while I re-tie it.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see the jump rope man. Albright told me earlier how he is out here everyday and how hard he works out. He’s still whipping that jump rope, making it snap at his feet. It is like Indiana Jones leading an aerobics class. I should interview him.

Dang it, the other shoe is untied.

Fortunately, I found Pat Fagan. He is a good reminder that on this track you get to pick your own speed. He’s in blue jeans and he’s making his laps at his own pace.

“It has been good for me all my life,” he says. “I just do it at a little different speed now.”

He says the morning walk is good for more than just the body. It is psychologically stimulating as well. Out here at Rock Chalk Park you see so many different types of people. There are the women walking, a soldier in fatigues leaves one of the changing rooms, a group of men and women play a pick-up basketball game on the court below, and our friend with the jump rope is on the verge of setting off a smoke alarm.

It is good to be around life, Fagan says.

Joe Jennings agrees. Of course he figured that out long ago. Since he was 13 years old — which was a few decades ago — he’s been a runner. He switched to walking several years ago, so I figure he might be able to give me the answer to a question I’ve become increasingly curious about as I walk. Everyone here seems in such a good mood. What is it about a morning walk that gets the day started so well?

Jennings pauses for a moment.

“That’s a tough one to answer,” he says, “because every day is a good day.”

Double knot those shoe laces. We all ought to walk until we get to that place.