I saw the title and was interested to see what all of you were saying since I have usually seen great resistance on the Board to:
a) teenage running outside of a a school-sanctioned situation; and
b) running actual long distance races prior to college graduation.
Much to my surprise, Flagpole came right out of the gate with a positive response, seconded by Over the Hills shortly thereafter. Like him, I ran road races in high school. First marathon at 15 (under 3 hours after only running for a couple years at most) but mostly 10k, at which I was better. I almost quoted those 2 guys but then saw the post above which sort of threw me off. I'll explain why....
The one thing about Flagpole's first post that made me pause was the notion that this kid is sort of under your control and sort of on his own. "Guide him, but don't clip his wings."
I just don't see how the OP/coach has any input into what someone not participating in his team, practices, races, and who simply does not appear on the roster written down somewhere in the admin building does.
Things must have changed a lot since my teens. One thing I am certain has changed is the teenage road racing scene. My friends, peers, and I went to open-to-the-public non-school-affiliated events quite often. This was all the racing we did at times. (I say 'at times' sort of vaguely since I got talked into XC Sophmore year by a training partner; I already ran up to 70mpw so that's not how I 'discovered' sport.) 4 of us - just from one class at one school- went to marathons together. There was at least one other guy who ran at least one but wasn't as tightly in my social circle.
If you add in a local 20 mile race, there were quite a few from our school doing that kind of thing. But let me be clear: it wasn just my training group (as I mentiond), and it wasn't just our school. There were a bunch of entrants in our age group at all of these. We didn't know them. I suppose they attended some school or other but perhaps didn't participate in school sports. It was not the same 2 or 3 guys at every race; that age group was deep. They didn't seem to have anything keeping them from a 10k on a Saturday in the Spring.
OK, so all that being true, it's something else that must have changed during the last 40 years that is the reason for this post. When I made the dubious decision to run school cross, I found that the season was most of September and maybe all of October. I think 8 weeks. My memory of that time period is dim by now, but it is possible it went into the very beginning of Novembe. So maybe 9 weeks.
Here's what seemed incredibly normal then (and likely consistent with State law) but doesn't make sense now reading the thread:
That was truly the whole XC season. Outside of that, there was no practice and no coach. The coach was not also the track coach, and you wouldn't see him - at all, ever - outside of that window. I literally never even met the track coach - again, a totally different person. So, it seems strange to me that all you high school coaches have this huge amount of all-year access to every kid at school who runs.
Over the Hills mentioned that he's not sure what the coach or coaches thought about the marathon. That sentiment applies not in the least to me. The track coach did not know I existed and would have had no opinion whatsoever on a marathon during track season run by students at his school. Even the early posters that I largely agreed with mentioned 'guidance'. The 2 guys I'm primarily referring to certainly did. How does someone that the kid hasn't met - or possibly trained with for 2 months last year but hasn't seen since - offer 'guidance? If the kids are running on their own 10 months a year, how are you suddenly this guy's year-round coach and advisor? How would you even be aware that he's got a half on the calendar coming up?
I guess my view of the high sshool coaching process is outdated. Perhaps they snoop around these days and find out who runs and then approach the kids. It wouldn't have been all that hard back then. I stumbled on a track practice once (the only one I ever attended) and a guy I knew was there. Anyone digging deep could have asked if he knew anyone else who ran. It's just that nobody asked. There was nobody who considered it their job to mentor any young runner living in the school district. The coaches each coached 2 months and their was no all-year situation. There certainly wasn't a mandatory one.
That last point may need elaboration. While not legally 'mandatory' by any means, high school sports may be effectively so if peer and parental pressure is strong enough. The great thing is that during my school years, nobody pressured us not to run long events including marathons. My dad actually drove. He never once said, "Shouldn't you be on the track team?" As I said, the coaches simply lacked access to us and exerted no influence whatsoever outside of the short season. If you didn't go on the first day and sign up, they didn't see or talk to you even during the season.
One more thing: Various posters have great nostalgia about their team experiences and the social aspect of it all. All their friends were there, etc.... In my case, all my friends were not there; I knew literally one of them and had no social reason to be there myself. My friends were out running on their own or with me.
This brings me to the quoted post. Not picking on this guy: the same sentiment appears all through the thread. He talks about compromise and fitting in road races. How is it that you are a participant in the planning of a whole year of running for these kids? If I am at your school and planning a marathon, how would you even be aware of it? How would you be aware of me? Admittedly this was decades ago, but there wasn't a central running planning group at our school. Neither the school district nor any of it's employees (coaches) had any input or participation in my running. Why isn't that the case now?
Leave this kid alone. If he wants to run a half, he'll do it. If he wants to be on your team, he'll show up at your table on the first day of the season and sign up. If he doesn't, it's none of you business what he does. Maybe you'll glimpse him over at the soccer table. Maybe you'll hear from you team that he's out hammering the roads. Maybe you see him around campus and he's put on 75 pounds. Unless he specifically puts his name down for your program, you don't have a dog in this fight.