What's amazing in this article is Aurora Scott's own drive. She doesn't have running emphatic parents like some of these girls who later burn out. The other issue is the weight gain that occurs later on. The comparison with other girls of this age targets white girls who put on weight. From the photo, Scott has an East African-TYPE build and they don't tend to face the weight gain issue as much as white girls.
She sounds perferct, actually. I agree with Wejo, she's not an allen webb. She's not going to specialize in the mile in years to come. But, her focusing on the mile and 3k now is PERFECT for obvious marathoning ability. I think her domination of collegiate cross country and the 5k/10k double is in the bag as long as her hs coach continues to fuel her passion.
For those who think she is not wise doing the marathon right now are correct in that she should not be training specifically for the marathon, but it's obvious she's not...she's running hs cross country and stated her plans for running in college.
As for the comment about her being better than Webb... Webb is awesome, but he made a very poor tactical error in the Olympics and missed his chance to prove himself ultimately on the international level, for now. Deena Kastor brought home a Bronze. The comparison of Fourteen-year-old Aurora Scott should have been made to Kastor.
She has the ability to far succeed what Deena Kastor has done for American Marathoning in the decade and a half to come.
You can fret about burn out, but the potential is there and we should keep our eyes open because this girl is playing her cards right to dominate hs cross country, hs outdoor 2mile, collegiate cross country and outdoor 5k/10k and then onto international marathoning.