Which is better for a middle school kid with not much training, a 69 second 400 or a 6:07 mile?

In 7th grade I had a 2:28 and a 1:02, but also a 5:45 mile. He should focus on long distance. My 100 was low 13s. Focus on having his mile pace be his 5k pace next year, it is doable.

It’s obvious wrote:

In 7th grade I had a 2:28 and a 1:02, but also a 5:45 mile. He should focus on long distance. My 100 was low 13s. Focus on having his mile pace be his 5k pace next year, it is doable.

My point being... we never ran over a mile straight

well one i didnt start puberty till end of my junior year

height and weight

freshman 5'7, 97lbs

soph 5'10, 112

junior 5'10 130

senior 5'10 148

and like i said starting soph yr i trained basically yr round. when you dont have any huge breaks in consistent training you can improve a lot. i only had a 20" vert, so i was always dead last in the 100m till about 60-70 when i would hit my top end speed and my form maintained better than the others. to run 11.23 (yes that was FAT) at 5'10 130 shows i had speed just not enough power, not like i was some beef cake at 148 as a senior, thats still considered SKINNY for 5'10

Unless the kid is obviously built for power events at this stage just go with a balanced programme including a range of elements of speed and endurance. i.e. try and do something of both most weeks.

His talents will appear obvious after a time and then you can specialise a bit more but at this stage its impossible to tell.

I remember a good XC runner I raced as a kid turned out to be an even better high jumper! Get training, just generally get fitter and stronger, develop good training and health habits, try a range of events and see what happens.

Why does it matter which is better? The main goal for a middle school kid should be enjoying the sport. Try a bunch of events. Everyone wants to be a sprinter in middle school. Let the kid figure it out over time. Just run.

I started running at 11. I ran mostly distance, long distances. I ended up discovering I was a true middle distance runner over time. My experience having run all the way through college and beyond is that depending on the coaching and guidance given to a young runner; one thing must remain constant, and that is to find the fun in the sport. As the years progress, it becomes more challenging to keep the fun because of the pressures both internal and external. Running at a high level in college and beyond can be stressful.

Moreover, you will know pretty quickly if a young runner can compete at a higher level based on their progression in whatever event they compete in. The added challenge is what to do to keep him or her from getting too burned out. I had a great coach in middle and high school. Unfortunately, my college coaches were primarily sprinter coaches and I ended up being injured quite a bit. Anyway, way back when in the early seventies I was able to accomplish the following:

Middle School:

660 yards - 1:32

880 yards - 1:59.5 at 14

440 yards - 56.5

High School -

440 - 47.3

880- 1:52

220 - 21.8

College

440 - 45.2 (relay)

800 - 1:48

Mile : 4:09

Curious, how one would rate the potential of these 7th grade times for a 12yo girl:

100m - 13.6

400m - 61.7 Solo

- In districts she went out under 29 for the first 200m, hit the wall hard in last 100m, held on to win in 62.5

800m - 2:29 - Negative split by 5 seconds

1600m - 5:52

Last year was her first year of Track. She plays very competitive soccer and also played basketball in the winter leading up to track. They ran 3-4 days a week in track season, no runs over 30 minutes and it seamed like 300m repeats were as much as they would ever do at speed. Her first 400m of the year was 66.5 - solo.

The league she plays soccer in a little over half of the girls end up playing Div 1 Soccer. And her coach has told her if she stays disciplined she will play Div 1 Soccer. She likes track a bit better, is her potential similar for Track?

She could make D1 track, most likely. Running under 5 and under 2:15 will give her some scholarship money. Around 55 will do so, also. Not every girl improves linearly in high school running. In fact it is more common than not for girls to slow down during HS.

The 800 looks great. You should not negative split those. Positive for fast runners. With training, I would guess she could bring that down to 2:10 or faster. She will have D1 offers with money for that.

She is crazy fast. She could literally sit around and eat cheetos and still be competitive (obviously I don’t advise she does that) but wow, her talent is insane. Sub 57/Sub 2:12 talent for sure if she trains!