Is this child abuse? Dad makes 12 year old daughter run marathons

Alternate description - Hobbyjogger dad almost loses his pathetically slow PR to 12 year old daughter in marathon and starts gaslighting her that she can make the Olympic trials.

The article is pretty sad. He makes her run 7 days a week and has been training for years.

Didn't see one line that says "makes her run". She is going to be good. We still don't know if this is bad for a 12 y/o. No evidence. But I sure wouldn't do it.

Typically letsrun thread premised upon a lie.

The daughter loves running and wants to run marathons. And she does it very well.

Let’s run poster claims dad is forcing her to run because that will prompt letsrun outrage.

Yeah this is going to turn out awesome…

She will quit by age 16 at the latest. Dad is stunting her development as a runner by making or allowing her to do Marathons. The role of the coach is to help runners do what's best for them not just letting them do whatever they want to do.

I like how the father did not use his name in this article but is very easy to find. He’s a single parent with a daily vlog about his kids running.

Not using this for clout at all right? Not trying to profit off his kids at all.

Sports parents are the worst

Yet another hobby jogger article is wrong. You need much faster than a pathetic 2:37 to qualify for the olympics.

Letsrun posers claim running a marathon is dumb simple hobby jogger stuff that anyone could do.

Then they pretend it’s child abuse when a Dad and daughter run and train in this event together.

Lots of “ifs” here. It’s just like so many other “parental dream-fulfillment” things: parents forcing their kids to realize their own failed ambitions. IF that’s really the case. (Makes a thornier topic to have a villain—dad, of course.) IF the kid really doesn’t like or absolutely hates the activity (could be tennis, skiing, or clarinet playing.) the answer is the same in any case: if yr kid shows an interest in an activity—a bit of talent helps, too)—and enjoys it, boom! Support them as needed and called for! But otherwise grow up, dad, and be a facilitator not a dictator! BTW—it isn’t necessarily easy.

Is this fundamentally any different from a kid who plays soccer obsessively or does gymnastics or any other activity at a high level? Maybe. Maybe marathons are different (and maybe at that age you can't separate what the kid wants from what the parent wants).

This is partially correct. I do want rage. Because the other part is false- ten year olds don’t just go run 7 days a week and then run marathons . This is HEAVILY dad involved. He is coaching her. Like he tells her how far to run and what to do. He is claiming discrimination because Boston won’t let her in. Like he is pushing her dude.

yes I want rage.

It's no different than travelling all over the country so your 12 year old can play 2 to 4 soccer games every weekend.

This happens all the time. The real sad story isn’t abuse or injury it’s how they flame out

this kid ended up being a 4:31 miler in HS.

sanbenito.com

Running: 11-year-old phenom in Mission 10 Race - SanBenito.com | Hollister, San Juan Bautista, CA

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There’s a good chance history will be made in the 33rd annual Mission 10 Race in San Juan Bautista on Saturday. Some of the top runners in the Mission 10 field this year include Amy Johnston and Elliot Daniels, who is an 11-y...

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You make a false premise to induce rage.
nice job.

How dare a father run with his daughter. And how dare he coach her too. This needs to stop immediately. It’s a travesty. Call DHS!

Wrong… it’s making them play 2-4 soccer games full time 7 days a week then making them run a marathon

I was only a 4:58 miler in HS. Maybe my parents should have made me run more when I was 11.

My college team (a very good team) volunteered at a road races where a 12 year old broke the state 10k record for the age group.

His dad wanted a sit down with all of us to discuss training specifically what workouts and volume we were doing at that age. Not a single one of us was running competitively at 12. He had his son doing 4 workouts a week.

Kid did one year of high school xc and quit

Anyone putting any forward thought to their child's training as well as has done some research can see that this happens most of the time. I am not saying they can't "train" at a young age but training 7 days per week and racing Marathons (or 10Ks) is completely over the top. Plenty of elites have trained with they were young but they don't need to be 10K age group world record holder or something.