Lauren Ping 10:25 3200m

not sure of everything wrote:

I have heard of Jordan Hasay and remember when she qualified for the US trials at 1500m as a high school student (I think I am right about that).

I don't know if when she was a 7th and 8th grader that she ran in all the national level meets that some current youth runners are doing. Travelling across the country multiple times during the year, including road races. So I don't know if Jordan Hasay did all of this in her youth. It was nice to see Jordan take the college route for her development. I know Rupp was a soccer player before he went all in on the running thing. He turned out pretty good without being a single minded distance runner at a young age.

Yes Jordan is a tremendous runner and yes she was very good while in younger years. I am just not familiar with her approach and training as a 12-15 year old.

unnecessary hype wrote:

Youth sports is really interesting for so many reasons. It's easy to see the problems with the other sports with AAU basketball, the plethora of youth summer sports camps (so called elite), and on and on.

Track/running always seemed different and didn't seem to fall into the trap of too much too soon for the kids. However, it sure seems these two girls are applying the "AAU basketball model" to their running.

One argument is that if the kid is enjoying it and it doesn't hurt then let them do it.

Another argument is that parents should be protecting their kids.

I just see over and over the burnout that exists in youth runners with practically all of them doing less than what these two girls are doing at such a young age.

I hope that these two girls have a passion for this sport 5-10 years down the road and stay physically and mentally healthy all along the way. I just think a more conservative approach in their running is a route I would prefer to take. Specifically

1) No travel out of state to run in national competition or road races with exception of NXC, foot locker, NB nationals

2) No winter track meets between Nov-Feb 15

3) Max of 5 day training per week in HS season

4) Max of 3 day running per week out of HS season

So yeah I get that at such a young age these girls are the talk of the town. Nothing criminal about this. I just think the sport has so much more to offer with each passing year from 9th-college years and I would want all runners to enjoy those benefits. No guarantees that these girls will be NCAA elites - but I think they could have a great experience in the upcoming years and would be better served to be very low key in their approach until 9th grade (at the earliest).

We put them in the same conversation as Mary Cain. While mary made money and had some great experiences I think she would have been better off in the long run following the traditional model (HS/college). She might be smiling more these days, had great memories, great friends. Most see the Mary Cain thing as an experiment failed. I would hate to see any others follow suit, including these two sisters.