NY TIMES Articles on Young Marathoning and Why We Are Built for Distance

I feel obligated to post in response to the article. I, too, was one of "those kids" that ran marathons at a young age.

I think running is great and still enjoy it quite a bit. I especially love competing in shorter events like the 1,500 that are more intense. I have no regrets about all the mileage I did at a young age, although perhaps I would have been faster later had I not started so young. But the friendships, travel, discipline and, perhaps most importantly, the enthusiasm for a great sport that I gained are worth it. Heck, I am posting on Letsrun 36 years now after I started running marathons.

I ran about 30 full marathons by age 10. It was not unusual for kids to run marathons in Southern California in the mid-70's. Mary Decker, at age 14, ran PV Marathon, for example.

I often ran one marathon one weekend and another the next. My parents never pushed me, although they ran marathons, too. My fastest at age 8 was 3:44, which at the time was an age group world record, beating the 3:45 of Tommy Owen of Redwood City, run at Avenue of the Giants. That marathon used to be a popular race. I ran the 3:44 at Santa Monica Marathon, which does not exist anymore. I think the age 8 record is now close to 3 flat. Amazing.

I ran 3:15 at age 9 at Palos Verdes Marathon. That was also an age group record, replacing the 3:19 from Daven Chun of the Hunky Bunch, who ran his 3:19 at Honolulu Marathon.

I ran 3:04 at 10, but it was short of Reggie Heywood's 2:57 record. My 2:54 at 11 was also short of Daven Chun's 2:52 record. I even did a 50 mile race in 6:49 (about 8:10 per mile) at age 10 and a 50K race thereafter a little faster.

My brother ran PV Marathon at age 6 and continued running until age 9 when club soccer became his big interest.

I was not so good at soccer, so I kept running. At 16, I ran 2:46 at Rose Bowl Marathon, and 2:43 at age 19. I ran probably two dozen times under 2:50 (lots!), but nothing really that fast. I ran Boston, Paavo Nurmi Marathon, Mission Bay Marathon, Marine Corps Marathon, D.C. Marathon, lots.

But just being part of a sport that rewards hard work is valuable. I also met a lot of faster people, travelled all over the world and met my wife through running (we were sponsored by the same company). I ran in college and competed post-collegiately on the track. It is just great fun.

I still run a ton, usually an hour a day, with speedwork on the track interspersed. I have never "burned out" or become injured by running at a young age. Perhaps I am the exception to the general rule. I am now 44. Maybe I'll have a knee go out tomorrow or get hit by a car when I'm running.

If Haile G had run the distances I did back then, he would have destroyed the times I ran. No doubt about it. He probably would have run 2:30 for the marathon at age 12.

My natural talent is very minimal - kids can run "fast" times at a young age if they just train enough. I have never broken 2 for the 800 or 55 for the 400. Slow, slow, slow.

I have three young kids, ages 6, 7 and 9. If they want to run long distances, I will let them. But I will never push them. They have to want to do it and they have to enjoy it. Track and road running and cross-country are great sports that I want them to enjoy on their own terms. With my genetic contribution to their make-up, hopefully they will have the same enjoyment, but run a little faster.