Getting up at 5 a.m. isn’t always easy. Wes Hare, city manager of Albany, Oregon,  acknowledges as much. Yet that is how he has begun his day for almost 15 years, with an early morning jog. Although he had fallen out of the habit for a time during his previous stint as city manager of La Grande, Oregon, Hare’s passion for running was reignited when a good friend who was into mountain climbing encouraged him to get back in shape so that they could do some climbing together.

Hare’s enthusiasm for exercise has heavily influenced his approach to local government management. For him, one of the city’s key functions is to create a safe environment for physical activity, and in Albany he has been instrumental in shaping initiatives to create a healthier community, especially for youth.

Mayor Darwin Hindman has transformed Columbia, Mo., from a town dependant on automobiles to a model for active living.

A well-known fitness enthusiast and long-time champion of healthy lifestyles, Hindman has adopted a number of land-use and transportation policies that encourage walking and bicycling. Under his leadership, Columbia was awarded a $25 million federal grant to develop nonmotorized transportation systems, which the city used to develop a comprehensive system of walkways and bikeways that connect businesses, shopping centers, schools, parks and other recreation facilities.

Mayor Thomas Menino of Boston hadn’t ridden a bicycle in more than 40 years. But two months after purchasing a silver three-speed Trek, the mayor was rising at 5 a.m. for a ride through his Hyde Park neighborhood and appointing former Olympic cyclist Nicole Freedman as Boston’s new bike czar.

“I was ecstatic,” says Freedman recalling the mayor’s offer. “Boston has the potential to be a world class cycling city. It’s compact, flat and has a strong cycling subculture. We have the raw materials for a very successful program.”

“A lot of families don’t have the means to do a lot of recreation activities or be part of 24 Hour Fitness,” says Gerardo Mouet, Santa Ana’s executive director of the Parks, Recreation and Community Service Agency. “One of the only opportunities for active living and exercise is parks and recreations programs and services.”

Mouet has spent 16 years working for the City of Santa Ana, and assumed the top job at Parks and Recreation two years ago. The city has some of the highest obesity rates in the state—more than 70 percent of adults are overweight or obese, according to a 2005 county report cited by the Los Angeles Times—but residents have few opportunities to be physically active.