Which One Of You Idiots Is This Kids Father?

ehhhh wrote:

dkny64 wrote:

Compare that to a 9-yr-old who gravitates toward [or is pushed into] classical music. An hour a day simply won't get it done - you're looking at 3-4 hours / day minimum of hard, repetitious work generally done on one's own.

But if a parent is encouraging a 9 year old to be running 50 miles a week and getting workouts/schedule in, my opinion is that is going to be too much of a physical strain on their growing/developing structure. I would prefer my son/daughter have a variety of activities that include all different muscle groups, and at most an hour a day of "organized" activity.

This ^^^^

MD Phan wrote:

But when the kid is talking "5:59 pace" and "leg speed" it's way overboard.

Why? If you like a sport, you know about it. When I was 9 I watched every Mets baseball for the entire season and could quote players stats from baseball cards. I knew the lingo because I wanted to.

What's the problem with this?

MD Phan wrote:

Haji wrote:

Why is it considered brainwashing if he runs but not if he plays soccer? How many kids get burned out playing soccer in HS? Why do we think 'burning out' only applies to running?

Because Soccer is fun to 9 year olds if they get to play and be part of the team, running 50 miles a week is not.

I'm just suggesting that fathers need to be careful what "hobbies" they are doing with their sons, because a son will do any hobby with his father, even if he hates it. Build models, go watch a minor-league ball game in every park in the State, go shoot guns, collect basketball cards together-- BUT just be careful with making your crazy obsession that of your 9 year old son, because it's not healthy and not normal.

I don't know if you have kids or not but if they 'hate' an activity, as a parent, you will know.

Running is no different than any other hobby you mention. It is not get to be 'obsessed' with anything and drag a kid into it. Since you don't know the details of this kids running you are only imagining a situation to complain about.

I'm not aware of any evidence that running for an hour a day is a risky activity for a basically healthy 9-yr-old, but if you are, I'm happy to have a look.

Seems to me like the kid enjoys running, he's pretty good at it and he's having fun. I'm just not seeing the problem, except with this idea that he's setting "world records". [I think there's essentially no chance that he's the fastest 9-yr-old 5k runner of all time, and leading him to believe that kind of thing seems like a bad idea.]

p.s. As it happens, classical music is pretty hard on the body - classical musicians have more than their fair share of finger, wrist, shoulder and back problems.

I can definitively rule out any claims of paternity from the LR die hards.

We all know any true Let'srunner would NEVER let their 9 year old beat them. They would have sat on him and shouldered him out of the way, kicking past him, only to turn back and yell, "Gobble, gobble, Mofo" at the tape.

Besides, if you look at the pic, the kid is definitely a heel striker!

Junk Master wrote:

I can definitively rule out any claims of paternity from the LR die hards.

We all know any true Let'srunner would NEVER let their 9 year old beat them. They would have sat on him and shouldered him out of the way, kicking past him, only to turn back and yell, "Gobble, gobble, Mofo" at the tape.

Besides, if you look at the pic, the kid is definitely a heel striker!

You are right, besides nobody on here runs slower than 15:10 unless they are coaches of world class athletes. Definitely not a LR product.

Is the Goucher kid 9 yet? He's going to destroy the "world record".

What about 9 year olds like Ryan Sheckler or Tony Hawk once was? They definetly probably maybe injured themselves from an early age. And guess what they're millionaires now! Let the kid do what he wants! Usually a parent gets the kid into something then the kid takes over.

I was on 6 NCAA championship teams at Arkansas. My son barely lost to Zach in the last 50 meters. My son got 18th in Myrtle Beach...

My son also scored 32 and 22 points in basketball games in the last year, plus he was a bad ass flag football player.

Zach is very normal! But he wants to be good at running like my son wants to be good. Why is that a bad thing?? My son never put 20 miles a week in, and Zach probably didn't either....

CHILLLLLL PEOPLE!!!!

MD Phan wrote:

Haji wrote:

Why is it considered brainwashing if he runs but not if he plays soccer? How many kids get burned out playing soccer in HS? Why do we think 'burning out' only applies to running?

Because Soccer is fun to 9 year olds if they get to play and be part of the team, running 50 miles a week is not.

I'm just suggesting that fathers need to be careful what "hobbies" they are doing with their sons, because a son will do any hobby with his father, even if he hates it. Build models, go watch a minor-league ball game in every park in the State, go shoot guns, collect basketball cards together-- BUT just be careful with making your crazy obsession that of your 9 year old son, because it's not healthy and not normal.

So, what do you think about...gymnastics?

I agree with you about the workouts and schedule and overpushing being negative, but if this kid is just running mostly easy mileage with a couple fartleks and tempos, mostly dictated by the kid, gently encouraged by the dad, then it's great. It's giving him a huge head start that typically only the Kenyans and Ethiopians have. The only equivalent is soccer

MD Phan wrote:

Because Soccer is fun to 9 year olds if they get to play and be part of the team, running 50 miles a week is not.

I played soccer and baseball as a kid and nothing was more boring than those 2 games.

[quote]so what if he stops? wrote:

Who cares if he's "done by 19, if not by 13"? I had hobbies when I was nine that I did not pursue into adulthood. '

Yeah playing with soldiers, not burning yourself out trying to live somebody elses dreams

jenapharm wrote:

Must be a very very slow news day at Runnersworld that they need to run a story about a 9 year old

At least they are starting to cover world records.

I really tried to be open minded and see both sides of this debate but as soon as I saw the picture of the kid racing in sunglasses I knew the truth. These people are lunatics.

I did not read the article, but any account of a young runner always piques my interest. Without knowing the details I say the jury is out on if it a "healthy" activity or not.

My own personal story is that I started when I was 4 because I wanted to be with my dad on his runs. We always kept it very social and fun and he never pushed me -- in fact, he had to hold me back because I always wanted to faster and farther. If that is truly how this kid feels, then I feel there is nothing wrong.

As I got older I found that I still really liked running and found that I was good at it. I was extremely fortunate to get on a youth team where the coach pushed us just hard enough but kept things fun. Even though the training was not hard, I was still able to improve so that I ran the Cherry Blossom 10 miler when I was 9 in 1:03 and later that year when I was 10, I did a marathon in 2:58.

Now that I am 47 I look back at those times with fondness. In my life I had times where I veered away from running but I always came back and am just as passionate today as I have ever been. I feel that laying a foundation at a young age with an activity where you achieve success can only be a good thing.

I have 2 boys of my own, now 5 and 6, that came to me at 4 and asked if they could run with me (so very deja vu). I am doing all I can to nurture them and help them along with whatever they want to do. Right now they have 2 days a week of running club (about 4 to 6 miles a week), 2 days of karate, and 2 days of basketball or soccer. If later they decide to devote themselves to a single sport, I will be very careful to facilitate a lifelong love of the sport.

I truly hope the subject of this thread is following this same path.

so what if he stops? wrote:

Who cares if he's "done by 19, if not by 13"? I had hobbies when I was nine that I did not pursue into adulthood.

Run if you enjoy it. If you stop enjoying it, stop running. There's no harm in outgrowing a hobby.

Exactly this, most adults hate running anyway so what's the loss...

My college roommate started running at age 2, set many of these age US records, and still enjoys training and racing post-college unlike many.

"If I see you heel strike...that's a paddlin'."

Idle curiosity: did you run in HS? College? Lifetime PRs?

Idle curiosity: did you run in HS? College? Lifetime PRs?

I did run in HS, but that was a time when I was more passionate about trying other sports. I ran the mile but I always finished butt-naked last every time in about 6:30 -- I am not sure of the time because no one ever told me. I .

As a skinny, weak kid with no sprint speed, I quickly found that at best I would be average an everything but running. So, as I was about to graduate college I got serious and got myself down to sub 16 5k and sub 2:30 thon in my late 20s early thirties with lifetime bests of 15:42 and 2:27.

Right now I am fairly consistent with 18:00 5ks and 1:22 half marathons, give or take.