At what age do you let your kids run 5k solo?

Ask them what they want to do?  I ran with my daughters as fun events, never pushed either for a time.  If they wanted me to stay with them I did.

There's not really a right answer, so I'd go with whenever they want to do it they can do it.

One of our neighbors just ran a 5k with her 6 year old daughter and she didn't even break a sweat at the end.

My oldest was a really good runner in middle school and high school.  He did several 5k's with some friends of his when he was 11 or 12, so I would think your girls would be ok.

I don't have kids, so maybe I don't know if their eyes are bigger than their stomach.  BUT, does the answer of "when they want to" work?  Or do they SAY they want to run solo much earlier than appropriate and then freak out the instant they are alone.  I think if they can reason enough and have the desire to go solo, they would be old enough?

A race is a pretty freaking controlled environment - just run in the same direction as everyone and if you get into trouble just stay at a place they hand out the water and tell someone you need help.

I was about 16... and my mom beat me.

My son was 14 before I let him run a 5k at all.  I let my daughter at 13.....I wish I wouldn't have.  She's been battlihng shin splints all year and I blame too many miles too soon.  I don't see any reason for a 6-13 year old to run a 5K.....I struggled with letting my son do it at 14.

I was 14 my freshman year of high school - had I joined cross country that would have been the regular for me - I was on the track team and was a jumper/sprinter but had quite a few workouts that ran 3 - 5 miles.

The freshman here run 2 miles for XC.....yeah, my son ran 5K races because they put him on the varsity....and then they ran him into the ground with all of the jrs. and srs.......and he had a stress fracture in 3 weeks.

I didn't say it couldn't be done....I said there is no good reason for it....they are still growing.  I could also make a case that at 14 most girls are done growing while the boys are just getting started.  Each kid is different.  Mine runs a 16:XX 5K at 15.....he never ran further than 2 miles at a time until he was 14.

My nephew ran his first half marathon at age 12 and had done numerous shorter races beforehand. In addition to cross country training with school he will run with his parent's marathon training group on weekends for a portion of their long runs. He usually runs "with" his mom or dad in a big race. Smaller local races I think he runs on his own and meets them at the finish line.

Likely depends individually on your kid and your comfort level.

My son ran varsity XC as well and his school pretty much wins state every year.  They run them into the ground as well and kids drop off like flies from overuse injuries.

The coaches harp on them all year to run in the off season to keep their miles up, but the kids never listen.

Yeah, I know there are all kinds of theories out there.....I really don't care what parents have their kids do...and now I don't really care what my son's high school coaches want either.  I have him with some really talented youth coaches and he gets his workouts from them.  There's not alot of high volume compared to what we think of high volume.....the idea is to build speed at a young age since you can't build REAL speed once you are older.....the endurance comes along in time.

I sometimes hear arguments like "the kenyans all run at a very young age and look at what they can do".....but that's a non-starter for me as well.  Plenty of kenyan kids get broke down and you never hear from them.

I think I'll stick with the idea that my kids are still growing, and let the majority of their aerobic training be in activities that are very easy on their growing bones and let the running adaptations happen slowly over time.

Yeah, I kind of agree.  My oldest was really good and anchored the 4x400 and 4x800 relay at State and placed in the State championship in XC his Junior year.  However, he was constantly fighting knee pain due to overuse and it got to the point where he couldn't even run without pain the summer after his Junior year.  He went from a potential D1 scholarship in running to not even able to participate his senior year due to the hard miles.

I was running X-C and logging 30+ miles per week at age 13 .  I was doing 5k road races at age 11. It's not that big of a deal. 

Then again, when I grew up, kids played outside and were running, climbing, and bicycling all over the place all day long and not sitting in front of XBox or Nickelodeon.  Girls running X-C 5k's in the low 17's were commonplace at my high school. Boys running them in low 16's to mid 15's was normal. 

Sure it is......120 miles per month is a big deal even for adults with fully formed bones.  The fact is, most of those kids running low 16's to mid 15's (which I agree is not unusual but certainly is not NORMAL) are out of running not long after high school.

Like I said, I don't much care what other people do or allow their children to do.  I think it's inportant to have a structured and long term plan if you have a kid who really is interested in running.... and that plan should be age specific.  My son ran a sub 5 minute mile at 13......he never ran more than 10 miles in a week.  Now, at 15, he rarely gets above 25 miles per week running, but swims a ton.  He'll go 4:20 in the mile this year.....probably near 15:30 for a 5K.  I know that 5K will come down over time because he has the speed to get there already built....without trashing his legs.

Running alot of miles for a kid IS a big deal. 

I simply disagree.  It is not that big of a deal at all.  

As for kids being out of running after high school - if there is even any validity to that at all, I don't see what that has to do with anything here. Like me, that probably has a TON more to do with finding other interests and activities -- and having a LOT less free time -- than anything to do with running itself, and almost DEFINITELY NOT because they did some running while training to run.  Those that love the running will continue to run.  Those that decide that they did it because it was something to do in high school almost certainly will not. End of story.

How did we get from a local neighborhood 5k to 120 miles per week? When my kids were 11 I would have let them run the local 5 k if they wanted to. I wouldn't let them run 120 miles per week.

Very interesting!

Especially that she is going for the marathon. I wonder, has she spent much time developing that shorter distance speed? Or did they just start ramping into the longer stuff. A 16:51 to a 1:16:41 suggests that she's certainly gifted for the endurance but I wonder if that is just because that is where the focus has been? 

I'm not entirely sure but it seems like the OP isn't so concerned with competitive running training and progression. It seems more like a question of when to let your kid out on the course alone, recreationally. And I think that is a little different conversation than high mileage running and competitive development and strategy.

Ok, so I'll go back to the OP since you have a point.  No, I didn't let my kids run a 5K at 11.  If they had any interest in running I would have let them do the one mile "fun run" that goes along with most 5K's,

That's how I read it.  Just questioning letting them do a 5k without "supervision".  Somehow it's spun into Olympic trials and 30 mpw training regiments.

No it's not, because your post is misleading.  Those who ran in high school "because it was somethingt to do" overwhelmingly did NOT run 16:XX 5K's...if any of them did.  There are many more stories like Tony's son, who was talented but was pushed to more miles then he needed and screwed up what could have been a promising college running career.

Running too much too soon is not good for kids.  It's not good for adults either, but throw in growing bones and you can really have a mess on your hands.

What is misleading?  Is it that kids ran fast, or that kids have TONS of reasons for not running after high school and it is NOT simply because "they ran too much and they burned out" as you wish to assert?  As for your assertion of "There are many more stories like Tony's son"... lol, I doubt it.  I'd say that lots of kids just find other things to do.

Let me help clear up anything you found misleading:  Kids ran fast, and kids have LOTS of reasons for not continuing with things they do in high school once they get out of high school.  That's it.  No hidden messages.  Nothing misleading.

Boy have we gotten FAR from a kid running a 5k on their own.... which I see no reason for a 10 year old to not be able to do, if the parent is willing to let go and let them run.