Im a 12 year old boy, 4'11 85 pounds and was wondering where I would place within kids my age
My marathon time was a 4:10:11
Other PRs include
Mile: 5:48
5k: 20:10
10k: 42:45
half-marathon: 1:40:10
Marathon: 4:10:11
I know that at this age things can change but I haven't hit puberty yet and I am wondering how fast I can get
No. Just no.
Don't.
You'd place first because no one else is dumb enough to do one, or wants to, or cares about doing one at your "age".
0/10
(and no, it is not the position in the alleged marathon)
There is a reason that in most European countries you aren't allowed to enter a marathon if you're under 16 or even 18....
the best marathon time for a 12 yr old is DNS
You just search "international age records".
2:46:42 Wesley Paul USA 25 Jan 69 Houston TX 24 Jan 82
So I guess you are not too seriously training, and try to run just for fun until you are 18. Testing this kind of limits at the age of 12 is a waste of time and energy in my opinion.
What is a reason that in most European countries you aren't allowed to enter a marathon if you're under 16 or even 18? I've been trying to find a real answer on this question for years but after a long search my only conclusion is that adults don't like when kids are overtaking them on long distance runs. Just like man didn't allow women to run anything longer than 400 m for decades. All the stories about medical reasons are just BS, it's just about ego.
wiki knows wrote:
What is a reason that in most European countries you aren't allowed to enter a marathon if you're under 16 or even 18? I've been trying to find a real answer on this question for years but after a long search my only conclusion is that adults don't like when kids are overtaking them on long distance runs. Just like man didn't allow women to run anything longer than 400 m for decades. All the stories about medical reasons are just BS, it's just about ego.
I am not a race director nor member of a governing body but my best guess would be indeed medical reasons and/or insurance/liability concerns (which surely again at least partly be traced back to medical concerns again).
Since we neither have studies showing that running a marathon at young age is not healty, nor studes which show that it is not not healthy, I would probably also prefer to err on the safe side and not let them run.
Leaving aside potential medical reasons there are other practical problems: what happens if the kid needs to abandon the race (happens to the best of us) and needs to get back to the start/finish on their own in an exhausted state. I don't want to be the RD if something happens in that case. Having the kid be accompanied by a parent is also no soluton because there are way too many psycho-parents out there who project their own unfulfilled aspirations onto their kids.
Tens of thousands of kids have succesfully run a marathon in last 55 years , but you still need a study to "show that it is not not healthy"? Do we also need such study for every other sport before we let kids play?
If my daughters run anywhere out of my sight they have a phone and a tracker. If thay have a problem I'm only a couple of minutes away. It's year 2024 now.
Parents accompanying children are "psycho-parents"?
What is your problem?
Do you have any proof that tens of thousands of kids have successfully run marathons? in the last 55 years (why 55?)? Anecdotally I could equally well counter this with that I've done 12 marathons in four different countries (incl the US) and I have never seen a minor in any of these races. Same goes for the events I have spectated.
Minimum age for Boston and New York is 18, btw. Chicago 16 years. I wonder why...
I have never said that all parents accompanying their kids are psycho-parents. But there are a lot of parents out there who are a "tiny little bit" too invested in their kids activities, that's seldom for the good of their kids. Anyone who has ever been involved with youth sports for a while can probably give you plenty of examples.
Why 55? Sorry, it's already 57:
Proof for 10000? I don't have, it is my estimate. Tell me which number is sufficient to convince you?
Let's start with these 310:
Here, 75 more:
wiki knows wrote:
Parents accompanying children are "psycho-parents"?
What is your problem?
He’s obviously a Democrat.
ch1234 wrote:
... I've done 12 marathons in four different countries (incl the US) and I have never seen a minor in any of these races.
Try here:
... or Honolulu, it has 0-14 years category with 35 participants last year. So, if it is open registration we get 1 adolescent on 1000 runners. Not exactly the most popular sport in primary school.
I'm totally aware of "psycho-parents" problem. However, this cannot be reason to exclude children from marathon, or you should start with excluding them from tenis, figure skating and any other sports (what about children forced to play piano or excell at school?) where this problem is much more present.
"Psycho-parents" don't have to run with their children. They just have to declare their offspring 'future olympians' and then pressure them when they perform below expectations. Usually it is connected with social media account where all the 'successes' are documented.
Solution for this problem is educating parents, organizers and journalists who are too happy to write about 'talents' and 'prodigyes'. It must be clear to everyone:
1. It is easier for small and light child to finish a maraton race than for an average adult
2. No amount of training and 'talent' will turn a child into a world class marathoner
3. Relative success at early age has no relationship with results as adult
If parents are aware of this, and children still want to run, LET THEM RUN.
Supervised, of course.
