My 8 year old is a prodigy. Ran an amazing 5k today. How to cash in on that? How to maximize his talent?

keep him playing soccer until 6th grade. 5k runs are for fun. nothing more than 2 miles every other day if he wants. i used to be the same way when i was 5, only i didn't start competing until i was 11 and therefore I was enabled to drop time. i know of kids who are around 4th and 5th grade whose parents force them to run around the 20 and 21 min 5k area and they always burn out.

note: encourage competition, but don't make him work too hard. not until maybe 8th or 9th grade should it be really competitive. i know of many kids who turn out to be great athletes just competing within their school.

This may sound kinda harsh but honestly the best way to max your profit is not to race him anymore and just put him out to stud.

The stud fees will exceed any prize money. Just the nature of the business.

Good luck.

Get him up to 80 mpw by the time he's 9.

You know why China is usually so good at gymnastics? Tough love.

I know a guy who can hook you up with the right supplements (dosed to age). Give me a call.

Jon Snow wrote:

This may sound kinda harsh but honestly the best way to max your profit is not to race him anymore and just put him out to stud.

The stud fees will exceed any prize money. Just the nature of the business.

Good luck.

lol... just wrong on so many levels...

well played

Youngest run across America for "charity".

You should already have a GoFundMe page.

I'm an old lady who currently runs in the 23's for 5K. In our Christmas charity 5K last December I spent most of the race duking it out with three young boys running together, two of whom outsprinted me to the finish. They were aged 8, 9, and 10, and they seemed to know what they were doing out there and were clearly enjoying themselves.

I'm no expert on either parenting or coaching young kids, but I think you should let your son enjoy running the occasional race with zero pressure.

Teach him to harvest his pure hate now before it's too late

GoFundYou wrote:

Youngest run across America for "charity".

You should already have a GoFundMe page.

Dag, beat me to it.

Get an RV and get on the road already.

It's not fast per se, but then again he doesn't train. The fact that he enjoyed it means he'll be fit/healthy the rest of the his life.

Proud Parent wrote:

Completely kidding. I assure you that I am a mentally stable parent with proper perspective.

My 8 year old son ran just over 26 minutes in a 5k today. He does zero "training" (other than doing some strides with me when I get back from my runs... HIS choice... and soccer). Is that halfway decent for a 3rd grader?

What I AM really excited about is that he really enjoyed it.

Just keep doing what you are doing - as long as he enjoys it. Soccer will give him all the endurance he needs, and strides with you the "leg speed velocity". Seriously, the last thing heeds is mileage.

Jon Snow wrote:

This may sound kinda harsh but honestly the best way to max your profit is not to race him anymore and just put him out to stud.

The stud fees will exceed any prize money. Just the nature of the business.

Good luck.

An 8 year old can never be a prodigy. That's like your grandfather making the NHL with his precocious talent

Wesley Paul - ran a 2:56 marathon at age 9. Obviously went on to dominate world distance running with multiple Olympic and WC medals not to mention all of the untouchable world records he set as an adult.

No racing until high school junior year! Until then just train mileage. When he steps on the scene in his junior year people will wonder where this kid came from. Imagine Webb being a complete unknown and runs his first race junior year.

20 miler on Sunday

20 x 400m on Tuesday

20x 200m on Thursday

Race on Saturday

Run easy on Monday, Wednesday, Friday

Proud Parent wrote:

Completely kidding. I assure you that I am a mentally stable parent with proper perspective.

My 8 year old son ran just over 26 minutes in a 5k today. He does zero "training" (other than doing some strides with me when I get back from my runs... HIS choice... and soccer). Is that halfway decent for a 3rd grader?

What I AM really excited about is that he really enjoyed it.

Zero training regardless.. how on earth does 26 min for 5k count as a prodigy?

Portland Hobby Jogger wrote:

Wesley Paul - ran a 2:56 marathon at age 9. Obviously went on to dominate world distance running with multiple Olympic and WC medals not to mention all of the untouchable world records he set as an adult.

johnny bean wrote:

keep him playing soccer until 6th grade. 5k runs are for fun. nothing more than 2 miles every other day if he wants. i used to be the same way when i was 5, only i didn't start competing until i was 11 and therefore I was enabled to drop time. i know of kids who are around 4th and 5th grade whose parents force them to run around the 20 and 21 min 5k area and they always burn out.

note: encourage competition, but don't make him work too hard. not until maybe 8th or 9th grade should it be really competitive. i know of many kids who turn out to be great athletes just competing within their school.

I remember having the same experience as you did Proud Parent. My kid ran a 23 minute 5k in 5th grade off of nothing but soccer and 2 mile runs two times per week with me at roughly 10 minutes a mile with because he wanted to "stay in shape" for soccer during the offseason. Anyway, the guy above has it right. As much as he loves to run keep him playing soccer until roughly the end of middle school, and then you can encourage him to join his track / xc team in 8th grade so he goes into high school with some experience. Except for Jordan Hasay and a few others no runner who was good before high school because they trained hard pans out in college or even high school.