Former D1 Runners w/Kids: My 7th Grader doesn't seem to "have it"

give it a couple years. could be a big late bloomer. i was always shortest in my grade until 8th grade at age 14, now im average height at 5'9".

Aren't you supposed to be in H.S. by 14 years old?

Both of my kids did not have much talent for running.

Didn't worry me a bit. They should express themselves in their own way.

They are both at Ivy League schools and are very, very good students and embrace virtually any intellectual challenges. Honest as can be, and fun to be with. Seems like I couldn't be any luckier.

I've coached middle school kids and have personally witnessed incredible changes from 7th grade to 9th and 10th grade.

My son grew 5 inches between 8th and 10th grades and suddenly started running like he had some talent.

I've watched several kids who could barely break 7 minutes in 7th grade work their way to the mid 4:20's by senior year - not D1 material, but happy contributors to their team.

I was 5'3" as a freshman and ran 5:40 in the mile.

By my senior year, I was 5'11" and ran 4:24 and 9:27. It came around eventually.

He's young enough that I wouldn't worry about it. My two brothers were 5 ft entering HS and both were 5'10" upon graduation. They made huge improvements throughout HS. One went on to run D1 and the other didn't but there's no reason to rule out that possibility in middle school.

I dropped 30+ sec in the mile my freshman year of HS. Just let the body mature and the rest will come.

EDL wrote:

Aren't you supposed to be in H.S. by 14 years old?

No, most kids turn 14 by the middle or end of eighth grade.

I too have seen many "slow" 6th or 7th graders really surprise themselves and others by the time they are freshman and sophomores. A kid who has the work ethic and the desire has fought most of the battle right there. Once they start to develop physically, watch out!

Don't live through your kids.

Encourage him in whatever he pursues. If he likes running then encourage him and he will get better as he grows. How much better? Nobody knows but the joy is the the journey of discover. He does not necessarily have to be fast to explore and enjoy pushing the limits of what he can do.

If he doesn't like running then let him discover joy and satisfaction in some other way. Support, encourage, and participate (at some level) in that activity. Plenty of wonderful activities out there for kids.

David Robinson entered the naval academy at like 6-5 or 6-6, and left over 7 ft.

My son is in 11th grade. As a freshman he ran 5:27 for the mile. Last spring he ran 4:58. He's grown from 5'3 to 6'0 and this fall he's regularly competing with kids who ran close to 4:30 last spring. I think he has a real chance at a sub 4:35 mile. All kids develop differently. The most important thing is that your son enjoys running. Just encourage that and he will find a level that will make you proud. I always 3 questions after practice: 1) did you have fun? 2) did you practice like a champion? 3) are you getting better? If you get a yes to each one each day--it'll all work itself out.

I have a friend who was TINY all through junior high and high school. He had a mile PR of around 4:40 when he graduated and made All-State in XC once or twice (weak state). He walked on at a major D1 school, and went on to run 3:45 for 1500 to make All-Conference. Some people develop late. A majority of the ones who end up succeeding are those who stick with the sport, have a strong work ethic, and are self-motivated.

Thanks to all for your comments. I hope that I didn't come across as some sort of "Little League Parent", because I'm really not trying to live through my kids. I had a good career in the sport, and I'm just hoping that my kid can experience the same.

First, there is regression to the mean, so his expected athletic level is below yours (although the variance is large).

As for the question you asked, I fit that scenario. In high school I start out at 4'11"/85 pounds and did not have much size or strength and this was a long time ago so that there were not a lot of people running. I improved steadily but slowly through HS but still finished usually just barely making the JV top 7 (it was a big HS - 3100). Right at the end I got better (finished 5th in league in JV race, beating many people I had lost to earlier in the year). I also ran a very good 600 in the spring in a PE test that indicated that my growth (ended high school at 5'10+/142).

I ran sporadically and road a bike for transport and exercise through to part way through grad school. I then started running regularly and a lot (ran with a DIII team for a number of workouts, although I was slower, especially at first). My objective was the marathon, so my marks at shorter distances were not all that good (e.g., 51 for 15km), but ran mid 2:30s for the marathon and might have hit my 2:30 target except for a plantar fascia problem that ended my running adequate mileage and I raced on the bike fairly successfully for three years.

Now 2:35 is not a great marathon but it is much better than most marginal high school JC XC runners get to.

My kid:

5:10/11:00 as a freshman, 4:20/9:20 as a senior

OP, you really need to do a bit of self-reflection. Any kid, no matter how talented, should be running because he or she likes to run. You might want to ask yourself why this matters to you. You should also stay the hell out of his running. Be an interested and supportive parent, attend the meets, cheer everyone, don't "coach" your kid, say nothing.

While some great runners blossom early, the majority of successful runners have just stuck to it, accumulating gains inch by inch. Praise effort, not results. Encourage him to get wrapped up in the process and enjoy the small gains, whether they be from 7:05 to 6:59 or 5:05 to 4:59. There's a growing amount of good literature that kids who have a growth mindset ("I can get better", as opposed to, "I am good") do better in sports, academics and life, and they get that mindset when they're praised for their effort, not for their result. Besides, for most of us, even if we use the competition to push us, running is about ourselves. Obviously you are supportive of your kid and maybe this is old news to you, but it's too important not to mention.

psycho logicist wrote:

While some great runners blossom early, the majority of successful runners have just stuck to it, accumulating gains inch by inch. Praise effort, not results. Encourage him to get wrapped up in the process and enjoy the small gains, whether they be from 7:05 to 6:59 or 5:05 to 4:59. There's a growing amount of good literature that kids who have a growth mindset ("I can get better", as opposed to, "I am good") do better in sports, academics and life, and they get that mindset when they're praised for their effort, not for their result. Besides, for most of us, even if we use the competition to push us, running is about ourselves. Obviously you are supportive of your kid and maybe this is old news to you, but it's too important not to mention.

This is what I was getting at. Read this:

I know tons of people who weren't that great and middle school but were a lot better later.

I was probably around 5:45 in 7th grade and ran 4:22 in high school.

A friend of mine was around a 5:45 guy in 8th grade and ran 29:30 10K as a college sophomore this year.

Another friend ran well over 6:00 7th grade and ran 4:20/9:20 as a senior in high school.

Kids mature at such different rates that middle school success running is only loosely correlated to success later in one's running career, in my experience.

You aren't trying to live through your son maybe, but it sounds like you are trying to impose your own experiences on him. That might work out just fine, but it could also really backfire in a variety of ways. Might be better to let go of any particular expectations and let him know you support him as he follows his path.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Especially liked the CNN article.