My 8th grade brother ran a 5:06 1600 the other day. He runs very little, around 4 times a week, and it's mostly track workouts. Do you think I should contact a professional coach or should he be coached by his local high school coach? I think he has potential to become a top runner
My youngest son ran 4:52 in 7th grade gym class never having run before. He ran 4:19 last year as a junior which is fast but not scholarship fast.
My youngest son ran 4:51 in 7th grade. He ran 4:18 as a junior
He is scholarship fast
Running is a sport that doesn't require a coach. It's a simple sport.
You don't need a private coach to know how to improve at running. It's an incredibly simple process. The high school coach will be better because a relationship can develop better with daily contact. As long as the high school coach isn't doing anything really stupid, he'll be fine.
It's a solid time, but not a "wow" kind of time. If he's never really run before, why not start with track season this spring? I think it's probably premature to start thinking about professional coaching. The local HS coach my have some advice or off-season training to get started, but more than likely will refer you to the middle school coach.
That is a great great great time by the way.
Okay In a non joking manner
I think that’s a great time, a lot of people here say it isn’t too good and have stories of kids who ran way faster. But the fastest middle school miler I knew ran 4:18 as a junior and he ran 5:12 in 8th grade spring. He runs a 4:06 now
With the minimal training you talk about I think he has a good future on his hands.
theripestcheese wrote:
My 8th grade brother ran a 5:06 1600 the other day. He runs very little, around 4 times a week, and it's mostly track workouts. Do you think I should contact a professional coach or should he be coached by his local high school coach? I think he has potential to become a top runner
4 times a week of mostly track workouts is a lot. He'll get faster because of a growth spurt, but not much from training. He's already peak fitness.
5:06 is super fast for middle school. I've seen kids run that fast not get any faster in high school, though...then I've seen kids run slower run considerably faster. It's not a given he will be good or bad in high school. Just let him be coached by the high school coaches and see what happens.