Around 100 people regularly brave the summer heat and push themselves to their limits in hopes of getting their hands on coveted “Dog Days” T-shirts.
Community members have incorporated Red Dog’s Dog Days workouts into their daily routine for more than 40 years as a way to stay in shape and see their longtime friends.
Dog Days was founded in 1984 by Don “Red Dog” Gardner and Jim “Punkin” O’Connell for the Lawrence High football team. Two years later, it evolved into a workout program all fall athletes used as conditioning for their upcoming season.
The workouts then expanded to include athletes’ parents, siblings and other community members. Nowadays, the workouts happen weekdays at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. at the Liberty Memorial Central Middle School track.
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Don’s nickname, “Red Dog”, has stuck ever since a coach gave it to him in seventh grade. He graduated from LHS in 1956 and served in the Marines from 1963 to 1970.
“I had auburn-colored hair, and everybody had a nickname,” Don said. “Mine stuck even in the Marine Corps. Most of them call me Sergeant Red Dog.”
Now 87, Don has stepped back from doing the workouts himself, but stays connected with the Dog Days community by getting coffee after the workouts at a different spot each day, six days a week.
Over the last 42 years, Don has had cancer three times, but his chosen family from all over Lawrence was there for him.
“When I started having cancer, these people were so good to me,” Don said. “The people are so good here.”
The Bev Dog and Red Dog family
Dog Days has never been Don’s full-time job. He’s been a police officer, a bartender, salesman, security guard and more. His wife, Bev “Bev Dog” Gardner, says he’s done it all.
“I wasn’t a real good police officer,” Don said. “But I was really good for the people, because I’d take care of you.”
Bev got involved with the workout group in 1994 after meeting her future husband. They ran 2 miles together the morning of their wedding.
She takes on the administrative side of Dog Days, tracking attendance and peoples’ progress toward earning their Dog Days T-shirts. She also participates in the workouts at least once a day.
“You’ll notice if somebody’s not there in the morning. We hold each other accountable,” Bev said.
To most, Bev and Don are more than just workout instructors. Dog Days leader Steve “Gardner” Allen considers himself one of the couple’s kids — and they have him in their workout records as “Gardner Allen.”
“They seem like family after the first few times being with them,” Allen said. “They make it feel like you’ve known them forever. It’s the camaraderie with all the different people, just a whole lot of friendship.”
Don said 10 marriages have happened because people met at Dog Days. He and Bev were even in one of the wedding parties.
“It’s been so many years, and we don’t just know each other, we know each others’ families. This is the Dog Days family,” longtime participant Karen Brick said. “The more of us there are, the more we accomplish. I would never do it alone, because you look over and see they’re in as much pain as me.”
Red Dog’s rules
Dog Days has stayed free to the public and for all ages since the beginning.
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Anyone is invited to participate regardless of athletic ability, but the rule is “to never put anyone down.” No signup is necessary — just show up, check in with Bev and be ready to sweat.
Volunteer leaders run the same workouts Don came up with in the ‘80s. Attendees can earn their T-shirts by completing 22 workouts, whether it’s mornings, evenings or two-a-days. Participants of 7 a.m. Saturday “fun runs” at the Lied Center can also earn tank tops.
“I used to give Budweiser shirts. We got organized, and we started doing real shirts years back,” Don said.
The Dog Days spirit goes beyond in-person workouts. For those who have moved away from Lawrence, Dog Days leaders created the Has-Beens program, where people can do the workouts from home and earn a shirt.
The name “Has-Beens” stems from a nickname Don gave to college students in the early days of the program since they weren’t kids but weren’t adults, he said.
Thanks to their work in the community, the local Boys & Girls Club named the Don and Beverly Gardner Center for Great Futures after the couple for their work with youth and families in Lawrence over the years. Don was inducted into the Lawrence High Hall of Honor in 2002 and has won awards from local businesses, the public school district, the state and more.
“I think the biggest thing is the friendships we’ve made throughout the years and the camaraderie,” Bev said. “You may not know everyone’s name, but you know everyone.”
Fall workouts begin Monday, Aug. 17 at LMCMS, 1400 Massachusetts St. Learn more about Dog Days at this link.
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Maya Smith (she/her), reporting intern, has worked with The Lawrence Times since February 2026. She was born and raised in Lawrence and is a journalism student at the University of Kansas. She works at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications as a communications assistant and has been a freelance reporter for the Kansas Reflector since 2024. Read her work for the Times at this link.
