Celebrity jogging: LA's latest fitness craze

Yes: celebrity jogging. That's the name of the latest fitness craze to sweep Los Angeles. It's a sport, or rather a hobby, that revolves around a simple format. You dress up in Spandex and grab a camera. Then you lollop around an exclusive shopping district hoping to spot someone famous. If you do, you take a photo. If you don't, you continue on your way, consoling yourself with the thought of burning off those nasty calories.

To the uninitiated, celebrity jogging combines two of the most distasteful aspects of American society. It panders to a vain obsession with trying to keep fit, and encourages a prurient desire to invade the day-to-day life of minor celebrities. To aficionados, however, it's a strangely compelling pursuit. Celebrity joggers collect albums full of snaps like philatelists collect stamps or autograph hunters gather signatures. They learn and refine preferred running routes, and become experts on the shopping habits of the rich and famous. With luck, they also become fitter in the process.