Which One Of You Idiots Is This Kids Father?

STOP!!!!!

If you don't know don't crucify them

whats wrong with " that's what we do in this family " kind of thinking

it is accepted in other sports don't be running villains here, and then wonder why our beloved sport is loosing out to football etc....

Go ahead and say I sure hope he is not pushing him in the wrong way....

BECAUSE HE MIGHT JUST BE HAVING THE TIME OF HIS LIFE !!!

And a kid discovering he can accomplish great things at 9 will last him his entire life and how is that a bad thing???

SO STOP BASHING OUR YOUTH , AND BASHING OUR SPORT!!!

and thank you for those other posters who are going to encourage not destroy !

Yes, it's possible that this 9 year-old really enjoys distance running, and it's possible that his dad doesn't push him unreasonably, and it's possible he's not doing himself any physical damage, and it's possible they're not taking the whole thing too seriously....

It's just that, we all know the deal. Any time you see a young kid in racing sunglasses and running outfit, more than likely there is something amiss. Call it "Garritson Syndrome". We all know that kids that age don't actually enjoy distance running. They hate it. It's boring as f***, and uncomfortable. They may get some pleasure from doing "well" and making their parents proud, but they still hate it.

And Runners World should just stop reporting on "world records" for 9-year-olds, or 5-year-olds, or anything like that. It's silly, pointless, counterproductive, and usually inaccurate anyway.

Kids like distance running for the same reason they like other sports. They like to compete, they like to be social (in this case with his dad and other racers), and they like to feel accomplished. In distance running, the kid could feel accomplished for struggling through a 25minute run, and finishing it. It would make him proud of himself. I don't get why it's so unreasonable to think the kid enjoys the sport. I fell in love with the sport in high school, most everyone else here has at some point, so he found his passion early. I was very big about baseball at his age, loved it. My parents did little to push me, they just gave me opportunities. And my dad happened to have played baseball and loved the sport, so he was willing to spend time and teach me. And he refused to coach little league because of the drama. Why can't this dad be just a reasonable, except his sport is running?

Mr Farkovski wrote:

Yes, it's possible that this 9 year-old really enjoys distance running, and it's possible that his dad doesn't push him unreasonably, and it's possible he's not doing himself any physical damage, and it's possible they're not taking the whole thing too seriously....

It's just that, we all know the deal. Any time you see a young kid in racing sunglasses and running outfit, more than likely there is something amiss. Call it "Garritson Syndrome". We all know that kids that age don't actually enjoy distance running. They hate it. It's boring as f***, and uncomfortable. They may get some pleasure from doing "well" and making their parents proud, but they still hate it.

And Runners World should just stop reporting on "world records" for 9-year-olds, or 5-year-olds, or anything like that. It's silly, pointless, counterproductive, and usually inaccurate anyway.

You're projecting.

MD Phan wrote:

Anyone obsessed enough to put the miles on a 9 year old in order to run 18:30 must be a regular on LR. Put this kid into soccer or something for 5 years and let him have a normal childhood! Sure, a 9 y.o. will say he "wants" to go running with his Dad, but not really. A 9 y.o. just wants to BE with his Dad, regardless of what his Dad is doing, get a brain man.

“I was pretty sad because [my dad] usually can keep up with me,” Zach said. “But that day, he fell back because I was probably going 5:59 mile pace.”

This is not normal talk for a 9 year old kid. Find a new hobby to pursue with him until he is 14 or so.

http://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/9-year-old-claims-world-record-for-road-5k

Haha Poor kid is never getting laid! Probably, going to get beat up a lot to.

MD Phan wrote:

Anyone obsessed enough to put the miles on a 9 year old in order to run 18:30 must be a regular on LR. Put this kid into soccer or something for 5 years and let him have a normal childhood! Sure, a 9 y.o. will say he "wants" to go running with his Dad, but not really. A 9 y.o. just wants to BE with his Dad, regardless of what his Dad is doing, get a brain man.

“I was pretty sad because [my dad] usually can keep up with me,” Zach said. “But that day, he fell back because I was probably going 5:59 mile pace.”

This is not normal talk for a 9 year old kid. Find a new hobby to pursue with him until he is 14 or so.

http://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/9-year-old-claims-world-record-for-road-5k

Big deal - I'm pretty sure every second 9 yo from Iten could kick this kid's ass.

I was as serious a runner as a 9 year old can be and now am as serious a runner as a 49 year old can be. What's the big deal. Power to the kid, I wish him well.

wonder who his mother is?

My issue with aggressively pushing running/mileage is that it could screw with the kid physically.

WTF. Every child should be physically active at least 2-3 hours daily. Running for one hour is definitely not harmful in any way. There's something seriously wrong with the modern civilized world, as 1 hour of running is considered dangerous for children but sitting for 10 hours on their fat asses playing on iPad is OK.

In many less developed countries daily distance running is the norm for children, and it doesn't "screw" the physically, but keeps them lean and healthy and makes them fit adults.

Running is natural behaviour for a Homo sapiens, sitting is not.

Maybe the kid really does like running... People like to do things they are good at, and this kid is obviously a good runner for a 9 year old. It sounds like you guys are just butt hurt that a 9 year old can run faster than you.

So your telling me that if you ran a race at 4:59 pace you would say 5 min pace? Bs, runners always go for the faster time, in this sport every second matters, and having a 4 at the beginning sounds a lot better than a 5.

Wow, there are a lot of self-righteous idiots on this thread. I really hope none of you bashing this dad have any children of your own. What's with assuming the kid is running 50 mpw and that his dad is making him do it? Maybe YOU should get a hobby.

Everyone who said that kids will follow their own passions are totally right. My son is into football now, but was all about running at a young age after watching the Olympics. I used to bike next to him when he would run laps around our block. One time a neighbor told me that I was going to F my son up by "making" him run and that I should back off. I replied, "I get up at 5:00 every morning so I can spend every afternoon and night with my kid. Maybe I'll listen to your parenting advice once you start seeing your kid more than every other weekend. Jackass."

This kid seems to love running and seems to have a great relationship with his dad. I really don't see how this is anything but good.

hussle wrote:

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.

Ran the Cherry Blossom 10-miler in 6:03 as a 9-yr old (6:18) pace, but then can't break 6:30 in HS. 10/10 that someone bought your first line of garbage. And your "15:42" 5k does not equate with your "2:27" marathon. ROFL!!

oh please wrote:

So what's the right answer as to when you should start training as a runner. Eastern Africa seems to show that it is possible to run insanely fast very young (age cheat or no). Fairly certain Wanjiru was very close to stated age when he ran 26:40, 58:30, and won the Olympics. All by 20 I think. Did he do that by ultimate frisbee and waiting until he was mature to start running? Very doubtful.

This kid isn't going to be the next Wanjiru. Even still, I doubt that even Wanjiru had a regimented program at the age of 9.

probably arguing nonsense here since those who have such opinions are usually reluctant--or unable--to change them even in the face of facts and logic, but:

i run with the subject of the article--my kids have all gone through the same club at one point or another with varying degrees of success. this kid seems very level and truly loves running. some people seem to forget he IS on a team, and i can speak with a fair degree of certainty that he enjoys his teammates and going on a trip to myrtle beach for x-c nationals with his buddies was probably the highlight of his year, not this turkey trot.

he did NOT cut the course for this 5k (and it was accurate, at least according to a number of different garmins, but the 10k was very short). it was well-monitored and well-attended, so someone would have spotted him at the ONLY one opportunity to cut in the mostly out and back course.

they do NOWHERE near 50 miles/week. maybe 25-30 max.

here would be the more obvious grounds for criticism:

there aren't any real world records for this age group in road races. why runnersworld or any other publications would make a big deal about this is pretty ridiculous. worth pointing out are that he got beat by at least one person his age (results only note birth years) at myrtle beach, and two kids at least his age or possibly younger finished less than a second behind him. so, really, as cool as his accomplishment is, it's really not that earth-shattering...

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.

Great point. Not many 9 yos can run that fast period. So what if his dad is pushing him along. When and if he gets sick of running he will stop.

I enjoyed seeing my son practice karate. He loved it for a year or two. Then I tried to force him to continue. He resisted and I came around. He was sick of it and preferred to play basketball. He had a great time in basketball.

Now riddle me this....why do any of us do sports???

MD Phan wrote:

Anyone obsessed enough to put the miles on a 9 year old in order to run 18:30 must be a regular on LR. Put this kid into soccer or something for 5 years and let him have a normal childhood! Sure, a 9 y.o. will say he "wants" to go running with his Dad, but not really. A 9 y.o. just wants to BE with his Dad, regardless of what his Dad is doing, get a brain man.

“I was pretty sad because [my dad] usually can keep up with me,” Zach said. “But that day, he fell back because I was probably going 5:59 mile pace.”

This is not normal talk for a 9 year old kid. Find a new hobby to pursue with him until he is 14 or so.

http://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/9-year-old-claims-world-record-for-road-5k

I agree and disagree.

There are many sports a young kid can participate in, what is the problem if he chooses distance running as his sport of choice. With that said, no matter what sport a kid chooses, there needs to be limits on training and the kid needs to have balance in their lives. Btw, in the early part of my career, I coached an age group program and I’ve had a couple of 9/10 year olds run a 19 minute 5K and perhaps a couple of them could have run sub-19 if they focused on it. Their training was middle distance based and only ran about 10-15 mpw. I am surprised the world record in only 18:30 because 9/10 year olds routinely run 11 minutes on 3K cross country courses, which is about equal to a 18:30 5K road race. I guess the 18:30 5k record for 9 year old is similar to the high school marathon record. A 9 year old boy who can run a 4:43 1500, with a little extra training could run an 18:30 5K, just like a high school that runs as 9:52 2-mile with some extra training could run 2:50 marathon.

Running is ok for kids, even an occasional 5K, but just like with any activity there needs to be limits.

Jealous? wrote:

So your telling me that if you ran a race at 4:59 pace you would say 5 min pace? Bs, runners always go for the faster time, in this sport every second matters, and having a 4 at the beginning sounds a lot better than a 5.

That's great. I can relate to that ...I usually cared more about the time in races than beating someone. The clock is the ultimate challenge.

A 5:50, 4:50 or 3:50 probably hurts when you think that you could have got 5:49, 4:49 or 3:49!!!!

Ran the Cherry Blossom 10-miler in 6:03 as a 9-yr old (6:18) pace, but then can't break 6:30 in HS. 10/10 that someone bought your first line of garbage. And your "15:42" 5k does not equate with your "2:27" marathon. ROFL!![/quote]

It is actually very credible on all accounts. When I was 10 I was running with an excellent coach with my youth team in Maryland. When my family moved to California I no longer had a team so my training went downhill. 6 years of substandard training and no passion can reduce you to that level easily. Besides, you can look up the archived results of the 1977 Cherry Blossom 10 miler and the 1977 Maryland Marathon to see my results.

As for the 15:42 relating to 2:27, if you plot all my PRs from the mile to the marathon you will see that for every doubling of the distance I slowed down about 12 seconds per mile. When you look at the PRs of elite marathoners you will see that they slowed down about 10 seconds per mile so my 12 seconds is reasonable