Can my 9 year old girl run a half marathon (not race) with me?

runwithnataly wrote:

she has been running with me for about four months. Her longest distance was 7 miles in 90 degree weather. Her weekly total max was 16 miles.

runwithnataly wrote:

she completes 5-7 mile runs regularly without any issues at around a 9:00-9:15 pace.

runwithnataly wrote:

She ran her 5k in sub 20 minutes

Yeah, you blew it. You got lots of replies though, so I'll say 8/10.

runwithnataly wrote:

She ran her 5k in sub 20 minutes, kids are fast. The boy in her age division ran it around 18 minutes... the girls that trailer her were within seconds.

Post a link to the results or this thread is complete horsesh!t.

LoneStarXC wrote:

The 10 and under age division isn’t very competitive... sorry. Running a half marathon at 9 is just begging for stress fractures.

Exactly! This is exactly why American distance running today is a joke on a competitive level. You won't hear Kenyans complaining about "MAYBE" getting a stress fracture from running. Dude the girl has been running easy for months and is apparently very fit. Encourage her, for the name of the sport. So many Americans today, 90%, are so scared to race often in fear of "peaking" too soon, or "gettin hurt" or "maybe getting hurt" or "weather will be bad" whatever B.S excuse Americans come up with. Not surprising. We live in a nation who makes excuses for everything.

The 9-13 year old girls in Kenya are fitter than the average American. How sad is that. These girls in Kenya run to school, run at recess, and run home. They are doing TRIPLES while the average "competitive" American "runner" is scared to push their limits because mommy says to be careful so you don't get hurt. This is what keeps Americans below everyone else worldwide. If we had more Americans quit COMPLAINING and start TRAINING like an adult, like someone who runs to WIN who runs because their LIFE depends on it (literally for some Kenyans the marathon win at Boston is whether their village and families will get money/food or not), then we would see a peak in athletics in America.

Back in the 70s we had more American men under 2:10 than now. People were not afraid to push their limits and run 140 mpw, even the subelite.

Let the girl run if she wants to. The girls in Kenya are running just as much you better believe. They are not glued to brainwashing TV, phones, and social media and video games like lazy, pathetic American kids. They are outside getting it DONE. Learn from people in third world countries who are actually fit and inspiring.

I really don't think it's a good idea. What if she becomes a GOAT? That'd be baaaaaad.

"Haile Gebrselassie was born to run. Brought up one of 10 children in the hills of Asala, 160 miles south of Addis, from the age of six he ran six miles to school and back every day. "

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/athletics/8373361/Born-to-run-Haile-Gebrselassie-interview.html

letting a 9 year old run 13 miles is a horrible idea. Lettings kids run too many miles will mess up their joints later in their career

Way t o young! Period

Dude - there is no rush. Let her do a few 5K and 10Ks with you for a year or two. Running with the crowds will pump her up... Maybe one day on training run go longer than her current longest run of 7+ miles, in the 7-9 mile range. Make each new long run a huge "big event" that is celebrated with family. Make it fun! Build slowly. Emjoy time running with your daughter. It ends really fast.

I say you dope her with EPO and TRT and let her run the half marathon.

The answer to this has to be unequivocally no. Here is why: 1. Any damage suffered during such vigorous training may hurt her healthy growth later. 2. Saying she can maintain, there is no guarantee that you won't become one of those parents who live vicariously through their children (see: a man named M.G. and his many overturned children too young). 3. Focusing on running as a training method may destroy the idea that running can be play (much like what cottonshirt explained) 4. Unless you are medically trained, I am not sure you are able to deal with the complexities of children's heat exhaustion or how quickly children can go from well to not well in minutes. 5. Unless you are medically trained, I am not sure you know the child metabolism rates and the proper eating and drinking plan for a child at that age. As a result, I don't see why you can't do a training run of say, 10 miles....do 6 yourself and stop by and meet your daughter for the final four.

Wow.

I bet you think you brilliantly discovered the problem!

Run all you need to! Be like the Kenyans! Yes! American laziness is the issue.

Reality:

Your blanket assumptions are so fraught with fallacies that the untruths, themselves, can run a marathon in Nairobi.

Why?

Lineage.

Kenyans are of Kenyan lineage, most of whom have a link to a common bloodline. As a result, the fast/slow twitch ratio is different from others but common to Kenyans. Look at the body structure of the typical Kenyan and it is decidedly ectomorphic. Your typical Latino American, Euro American or Arab American is not typically built like that.

As a result of the ancestry, lung capacity is different. Yes, in many ways lung capacity is genetic. We are not all born with the same lung capacity no matter how loud we can scream or how deeply we can breathe in or out.

This leads to the environment. Unless they are living right in the city of Nairobi, the air is generally cleaner in Kenya. This means that the air is lighter which makes running easier for breathing.

This is why some of our athletes go up to Mammoth Lakes,.CA for training.

Why mammoth lakes?

Because until you can tell me that a 2:04:58 on a day when the Kenyan winner got a time only 1:56 faster than that, or just over 4 seconds per mile faster, is a bad time, I am surely convinced that our Americans are doing just fine.

runwithnataly wrote:

She ran her 5k in sub 20 minutes, kids are fast. The boy in her age division ran it around 18 minutes... the girls that trailer her were within seconds.

This is totally absurd.

If you think it's possible for an 8 year old to run 5k in 18 minutes you clearly know nothing about running or 8 year olds.

If it's true maybe she'll go sub 1:30. If you use her as a pacer you'll have a good chance of winning your age band.

I let my younger son run a half marathon when he was 9. He ran 1:36 off about 25-30 mpw. His brother was 11 and also ran and was only a minute behind me at 1:28. They weren't running workouts, we just ran about 12-15 mi. Mon, Wed, Fri, and about 6 and 9 on trails on Sat and Sun. They both ran in HS and college. Older son ran 9:35 and younger son ran 9:56 for HS 2 mi. Older son ran 4 years in college and younger son ran 2 years in college. Older son was a D-II AA in XC and ran 3:53 for the 1500. Younger son ran 4:08 for the 1500. They now are 36 and 38 and still run. They both are happily married and met their wives on the XC team. Both did very well academically and are very financially successful. I have just retired and am trying to get my 5K back under 20:00 before my grandkids start beating me in races. Everyone is different and it is utterly stupid to post generalizations about if you do "x" you will get a stress fracture. Some kids are more than ready to run something like a 1/2 marathon at 9, most are not.

I haven't read any of the responses, but my immediate answer would be absolutely not. Nine is way to young to be running 13 miles. Even traversing 13 miles by foot in any way in an entire day is a lot for a child of that age. I think it would be very irresponsible of you. I would not allow a nine year old run more than maybe 5 miles in one go, and even that would be pushing it. I would not let a child run 13 miles until they were 14 or 15 years old, and I definitely would not encourage it even at that age.

My suggestion if you want to do something like that with your child would be to have them ride their bike next to you.

Just my two cents.

What you just displayed is one great story with one good father who knew how to watch out for his children 's training and who had two successful sons.

That is great.

But applying this to others is essentially using an Eastwoodian "Do you feel lucky?"

Between experimenting with this try for this particular nine-year-old girl and realizing the risk may not be worth the reward, I say wait until she is 12 or 13. There is a reason why some of the half marathons do have a 13-year-old age floor.

I'm still going with no.

In fact, I am going to direct anyone who supports this effort to do some reading. It's about a man whom we will call Mitch (not his real name).

Mitch forced all of his kids into running...very early. Mitch's kids ran all the time. And, they even succeeded in track and/or cross country.

The issue is that people showed major concern for these kids. And they had every right to be concerned. Mitch was too forceful, too mean and, for all intents and purposes, too demanding.

Years later, Mitch was cited for abuse elsewhere away from his kids.

Think long and hard about Mitch before deciding.

If you know who Mitch represents, you will know what I mean.

If she is already capable of 7miles, I'd say let her do it, but be prepared to walk towards the end. No shame in it, as long as you do it together.

She can do it. But I dont advice that she til many hours each week. She may løse interest in the sport, may get injured permanent, get a muscle- or hormoneimbalanse

+1

OP, she shouldn't run a half marathon with you even if she wants to. It's too far for a child that age. It sounds like she enjoys running but even 10k is too far to be racing at that age. Let her play and do other sports that involve running.

I'm really hoping that this is some sort of wind-up? Why on earth would anyone think that it is an intelligent idea to allow a CHILD who is nearly 9 to 'run' a half-marathon? This is just plain stupid.

As a qualified Endurance and Children's Coach, if a parent came to me suggesting this I would tell them to stop being stupid. Furthermore, I would see it as a potential welfare issue and would be bound to report my concerns to my governing body.

Children should be learning the ABC's (agility, balance, coordination) and not becoming specialists in running until they're much older and more capable.

If you are actually serious then you need to take a long and hard look at yourself. You will be setting your child up for long-term health issues and for what? So you can relive your glory year vicariously through your child?