Flying Pig really should not have allowed it. Obviously the parents are there to exploit for social media $$, the RD should have seen how this is a terribly bad idea.
Seems like the child began crying around mile 20 which means the complaining and whimpering kicked in at likely about 10. Not a parent, but I'd rather cancel my subscription to Life (and not the magazine) than listen to a kid cry for 26.2 miles.
It's also just a crappy way for a kid to have to spend a weekend at best and at worst an extended opportunity for resentment and injury, both physical and emotional
Why can't there be a pandemic for "influencers"
I mean it was a 8.5 hour walk. Which 6 year isn’t gonna be super bored by that at latest 3 hours in?
I've done work for a marathon (not RD for that race) that has allowed a couple younger runners compete over the years. One was 13 the other was 9. It's been over a decade since they allowed that to happen - and in both cases it was done after extensive consultation with the parents and health care professionals. Social media wasn't as big a thing back then either, so maybe less ulterior motives? Both of those kids ended up running right around 4:20.
I just looked up the 9 year old to see what's become of him, if he stayed in the sport or if he lost interest. He ended up running in college, D3. Looks like he just graduated last May. Not sure if he ran for the team after freshman year, but with covid disrupting college schedules the way it has this has been a weird time to be a college athlete. I think he has some recent mixed martial arts results, so maybe he's not running as much but still active.
He admits there were tears but points out that kids that age have tears all the time.
Yes there were tears. He had a fall and every single member of our family has cried during marathons. These experiences were very limited compared to what has been reported and despite the incredible physical and emotional difficulty of running a marathon the amount of his crying is comparable to what we would have experienced had we stayed home on a Sunday morning.
Here is a post where he admits to bribing the kid with pringles.
So because they have a pattern of being bandits they allowed them? Wtf
"This patient didn't qualify for hospital admission based on their diagnosis and symptom severity, but when I found out that they had a history of not paying their bill I made an exception and gave them a bed."
RD shouldn't have allowed it. Sounds like they wanted the exposure as much as the family. If the kid was to to do it they can do a aelf-supported one. But the race can be held responsible if something happens. Not smart.
You might think a 6 year old shouldn't walk marathons but the fact is nobody ran any marathons here. They walked.
I never ran a single mile until I turned 13 but I walked plenty. Walking is a total nothingburger.
I once walked 26 miles in one day and it felt like a normal day. Didn't feel like I got a workout in.
As that marathon announcer would say, go to your local high school track and walk a lap in 5 minutes. That's what they did.
Anyways I know this will get downvoted but I just wanted to emphasize one more time that nobody ran nothin. They walked.
I thought that was obvious. They said it took 8.5 hours. How could you possibly run that. Got a neighbor who walks this small fuzzy dog. Takes forever to do a neighborhood loop. That's not even exercise. You are just standing. But I can see based on some of the other comments that few saw this. Odd how the Marathon label caused such intense anger in people. The highbrow standard of a civilized society (the UK) stood out. Granted that might have been the lukewarm flat beer too early in the day. Thanks for the pond. Gawd!
Because 18-year-olds are known for their excellent decision making...
Tell me you aren't a parent without telling me you aren't a parent.
I'm a parent of 3. Sometimes I let my kids do things I don't agree with, let them make their own mistakes if it isn't going to harm them. Once they're 18 I can see that I'll still try to guide them and give advice, but their decisions are their own.
I am with Temp Oh on this. I bought into the idea that the goal was to raise resilient kids who have decent self-care habits, even if they get off track now and then like we all did and probably still do. I make a lot of mistakes too but stick with it. I am scared about my leaving the nest, and spreading their wings kids, but trusting them teaches them to trust themselves and others.
So because they have a pattern of being bandits they allowed them? Wtf
"This patient didn't qualify for hospital admission based on their diagnosis and symptom severity, but when I found out that they had a history of not paying their bill I made an exception and gave them a bed."
I don't personally agree with allowing them to run, but I have to admit that that reasoning (if that was in fact the reasoning they used) makes sense. If you feel that they will bandit the race if you don't let them run, then your options are 1) don't give them entries - and they run the race anyway; or 2) do give them entries - there are freaking 8 of them, right? That's got to be several hundred dollars of entry fee money right there.
Back to the topic, I don't approve. If my 6-year-old kid wanted to run a marathon it would have to be in the backyard, no hype, none of this look at me stuff. That way I would know whether he "looked relaxed" or not.
As a person who ran a marathon at age 7 (3:50:55), I can see the argument for both allowing it and not. In my case, it was not a stunt, there was no social media or attention (it was 1975), it was just me wanting to run after seeing Frank Shorter's 1972 Olympic win. It was fun for me because I was in shape and prepared for it after running with my dad (he called it 'Dad and lad time') for the better part of 3 years to that point. In fact, those years running with my dad has set up a lifetime of a love of running.
However, from what I gathered from the previous posts, this kid was unprepared and had an 8.5 hour sufferfest. That is not right and I object to subjecting him to that. There is nothing like a traumatic event like that to kill the love of the sport. And if this was just a stunt by the parents to get attention, shame on them!
No snark, no joke, just - this is a good post. I'm thrilled that you had that experience with your father.
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