How talented is my daughter

Elana wrote:

BTW she ran hard. She's very competitive and didn't want to get beat by any of the boys.

Did she mind getting beat by any of the girls? Is that what she told you?

"My child is a honor student at bla-bla-bla school "

Bumper stickers.

Obvious Man wrote:

Someone that age should not be running, let alone training for, a competitive mile. Time her in the 60 meter dash and get back to me. That will tell if she has talent. A mile time at age 8 is meaningless. You might want to think about getting a life too.

Attitudes like this are poor for the sport. My daughter and many others she knew who trained and competed in USATF youth meets went on to high school and college success and still loved running after college. Sure, some parents went overboard, just like in any sport, but I saw nothing in Elana's post to suggest that was going on.

That's a very fast time for a kid that age. Have her join a youth track team next spring and see how she likes it. We went that route and distance running became our daughter's life time sport.

Old wrestler wrote:

Just in case you aren't trolling.... I coach a youth xc program and 6:37 for third grade is above average. Before posters here have you running her 100 mile weeks and taking PEDS, don't get overly excited about her prowess now. Kids progress at different rates. Aside from that, get her out running some and see if she enjoys it. Running as a sport can always use some young talented kids to show interest so maybe they all don't migrate to soccer or other more "inclusive" sports.

^^Agree.

For a white girl, I'd say that is pretty fast. For for an Ethiopian or Kenyan, she would most likely be second to last, only beating a one-legged girl by a few seconds.

That time KICKS ALL FORMS OF @SS!!!!

Get with a coach, and do it now before the moment passes. The 2024 olympics look to be a shoo-in for your kid.

USA!!USA!!USA!!USA!!

Obvious Man wrote:

Someone that age should not be running, let alone training for, a competitive mile. Time her in the 60 meter dash and get back to me. That will tell if she has talent. A mile time at age 8 is meaningless. You might want to think about getting a life too.

No need for the last sentence. She asked a simple question.

That said, it amazes me how many people think their kid is a prodigy.

accurate answerer wrote:

Old wrestler wrote:

Just in case you aren't trolling.... I coach a youth xc program and 6:37 for third grade is above average. Before posters here have you running her 100 mile weeks and taking PEDS, don't get overly excited about her prowess now. Kids progress at different rates. Aside from that, get her out running some and see if she enjoys it. Running as a sport can always use some young talented kids to show interest so maybe they all don't migrate to soccer or other more "inclusive" sports.

^^Agree.

I'd add that it's going to be very important to teach the child how to communicate with that competitive nature, not deny it. It's a part of them along with other interesting valuable parts.

Obvious Man wrote:

Someone that age should not be running, let alone training for, a competitive mile. Time her in the 60 meter dash and get back to me. That will tell if she has talent. A mile time at age 8 is meaningless. You might want to think about getting a life too.

Drop dead loser. Every year kids run the mile through PE and I believe that is what this little girl did. So shut and leave the discussion to grown men and women please.

To the OP, without any formal training, she ran a nice race. Have her run a 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, and the mile again and see what she likes. Have her do some fun workouts and see where it goes. My daughter was a bit quicker at that age and still quit a couple years later, but my boys didn't quit and love competing at nationals and local track meets. So I guess it is a wait and see but that's no reason not to nudge her in a good direction and see what happens.

Elana wrote:

She is 8 years old and had to run the mile for her 3rd grade fitness test. She plays soccer and swims but didn't do any actual trading for this. Ran 6:37. I was pretty impressed but I don't have much frame of reference. I only started running in 8th grade. BTW she ran hard. She's very competitive and didn't want to get beat by any of the boys.

That's a very good time.

Good for your daughter, and good for you sticking up for her.

She is above average for her age. Based on her performance she is not an outlier on our sport at the present time. It is fairly common for some kids at her age to perform well in aerobic testing with little or non specific training. Please keep her doing multiple sports and having fun while increasing and developing her biomotor skills. You may consider adding a couple days a week of gymnastics. Just my five cents.