Can most kids run 3 miles without stopping?

Time him in a 1600/mile and report back. And NO, most 13 year olds can't do that becuase they are "obeasts"

most kids cannot run a half mile without stopping

My 3 oldest kids(13, 11, and 8) can run 3 miles without stopping but I'm pretty sure they can't run that pace, at least not without training a bit. Is your kid in shape from other sports? That's really the only reason my kids can run at all because of their training in soccer, karate, and swim team. Anyway, I think a 7:30 to 8:00 pace is pretty good. Tell your son good job.

my daughter's a year and nine months, and already in the summer she could run 1/4 mile alongside the stroller without stopping (distraction would stop her, not tiredness--little kids have a constant motor), so I'm thinking she might have a mile in her this summer. It is ludicrous to think that most 10-18 year olds in this country can't even run a mile without stopping.

Speed is important if he is to have "a future in running". I have an 11 year old who can run all day. He ran a 19:50 5k at age 10. But he's not that fast compared to kids at XC Nationals. I don't think he has that raw speed. The longer the race the better for him. Unfortunately they don't have 10k until college. Yes, most kids think distance running is misery.

13...are you serious? Thats practically high school (8th grade). The majority of boys and girls can run 3 miles at that age, as long as they arent obese or "anti" exercise.

Add soccer on top of that and they can run 5 miles pretty easily.

Most of them have the physical ability to run 3 miles without stopping, but lack the mental toughness required to keep going once they start to get tired.

7:30 - 8:00 is definitley fast for a 13 y/o kid. perspective

The majority of 13 year olds cannot just go out and run 3 miles without stopping, if even then. I'd give the "majority" one mile, tops. And to the above poster, playing soccer doesn't change the magic number to 5. I've coached innumerable middle school aged soccer and track athletes, and 5 miles is not enjoyable for most of them, except the select distance-runner types who don't sweat it. That's not even counting all the 13-year old non-athletes, or football, baseball, etc, players who don't like running anything over windsprints in practice. Lastly, I wouldn't characterize 7:30 - 8:00 as "definitely fast" at that age. That is a typical 30 min training run pace for our youth XC and distance boys and girls.

Thanks for the input. When I say without training, I mean my son does not run at all on a regular basis. He is not particularly athletic, so I've been looking for a fitness niche for him, and am hoping running might be it. He will run the 3-mile distance with me occasionally. He doesn't love it, but if I bribe him with something, he will do it without much complaint. He will need to pick a sport in high school next year, and while he likes golf, I would prefer he run because of the fitness and cost factors.

I sincerely doubt that most kids can run 3 miles without stopping at any age. Not in this country.

That having been said, 3 miles at 7:30 pace for a 13 year old is not exactly indicative of a huge amount of potential. Not to say that there is none, but its hard to say yes when there are younger kids who can run much faster.

If your kid is motivated and wants to improve, then he probably can become a reasonably good runner. More than likely not a huge talent, but not everyone can be. If he can run ~25 min 5k right now with no training, he could probably work his way down below 20 minutes with any halfway decent coaching by the time he graduates HS. He might run 19:55, he might run 15:55, can't say unless he tries.

If he can run with you at that pace at the drop of a hat, then you should get him out for the middle school or local youth track team so he can interact with kids and really get into the camraderie of the sport. But I wouldn't push the pace on him in your one-on-one runs. The pace I mentioned above was with groups of kids, so they gain that team-building sense of suffering together with friends. I run with my 13 year old once or twice a week over the winter, and we run 9 minute pace, and just chat. He's run 5:15 and 11:20 in the 1500 and 3k in 6th grade track, and wouldn't run 9 min pace at practice with his buddies, but with me, we just run for the sake of running together.

Children metabolise fat faster and more easily than adults. Hence getting less tired and being more energetic.

In my PE class in high school most of the class couldn't run the 1500 without stopping and there were a lot of complaints about it. Some people even walked at the end of the 400. I doubt most girls and boys that age could run 3 miles without stopping. With some training they could. I don't think you realise how low the general fitness of a lot of teenagers is.

The other day when it was finally 'warm' outside a few college age guys came out for my club's group run of 6.5 miles. They were not obese and claimed to do elliptical often. But we could tell we were gonna have to go slow. So we started off at 9min pace. One turned back at 1 mile and the other had to walk it back from mile 4. I didn't realize how pathetic most people are. I expected that kind of fitness to be only found in obese people, not skinny 20 somethings.

That's strange.

My experience has always been the opposite of this. I took two friends out on separate occasions, both are non-runners and neither had any problems.

I let them choose the pace (which ended up being between 9-10 min-miling) and managed a 5k, 10k and 5 mile run with each of them without issue.

food critic wrote:

13...are you serious? Thats practically high school (8th grade). The majority of boys and girls can run 3 miles at that age, as long as they arent obese or "anti" exercise.

Add soccer on top of that and they can run 5 miles pretty easily.

I am not sure what kids you are around, but most 13 year old kids (or any kids for that matter) can absolutely not run 3 miles without stopping. My son just turned 14 and is a runner, but I am fairly certain none of his non-runner friends could run 3 miles without stopping, not even the skinny ones that do other sports.

Also, for those that are saying 7:30-8 minute pace isn't fast for a 13 year old kid that doesn't train, you are mistaken. Some of you compared it to other kids race times. The OP did not say this was a race or anything, just a kid going out with his dad and running 7:30-8 minute pace on a training run without doing regular runs. That definitely shows some talent. If he started training regularly he would get much faster.

Father Time wrote:

Just wondering, because my 13-year old son can do this without any training, and I wondered if this means he might have a future in running. He's not fast, (7:30 - 8:00 miles). Can most kids do this without much effort? Seems like hardly anyone can even finish a mile nowadays. Thanks for the input.

I have two kids who can run 3 miles with no problem also (8 year old boy and 12 year old girl), but trust me brother, most can not do that. Many of them die after 400 meters, and then it just gets worse and worse as they get older. A recent study showed that only 5% of adults can run a mile without stopping. That's pathetic.

Regarding whether your son has a future in running though, it is impossible to tell. Everyone is sooooo different with regard to how they develop and their talent ceiling. My very first run of any length ever was 5 miles when I was 8. Went running with my dad who at the time was caught up in the running craze of the 70s. I finished with no problem. I eventually became a halfway decent high school runner and then a college runner, but my 5,000 PR of 14:58 is slower than Shalene Flanagan's AR she just set, so what does that tell you? Also, as a freshman in high school, my PR then (10:33) was faster than Scott Fry's (10:45). He became a high school legend in the US; I did not.

Matters not really where kids start. Matters only where they end up. The fact of the matter is that there's a FAR greater chance that your kid will be on an NFL or NBA team than make an Olympic team as a distance runner. It's crazy how good you can be and still not even come close to making an Olympic team.

It's good that your kid can run 3 miles without stopping. He at least has SOME inherent talent. Some time in cross country or track will determine if he's good or not.

Flagpole wrote:

Matters not really where kids start. Matters only where they end up.

Thanks, Yoda.