What do you think about a 9 year old running a marathon?

I've got a 10 year old son.  NFW I'd have him do a marathon.  I cannot see how they could train for it safely, with a slow build.

I guess its better than an xbox marathon, but it just doesnt seem like a good idea.  Kids should be out playing sports, jumping, running, spinning, climbing.  Basically living.  Exploring the world.  Not plodding along in a straight line hours upon hours a week.

Sounds like a really long distance for a 39yo to run.

Here in Charlotte there's a 14-year old that runs incredibly fast times and often beats the pros. Her last 1/2 mary she PR'd coming in at 1:17:14 (5:53/mile).  Every time an article is written about her several people will chime in saying that her 55 miles per week training regiment is too much and ruining her physically.  What they don't realize is that she has been running since she was 6 and has 8 years to build up to this distance.

I don't know this 9 year old kid but depending on how long he's been training, running a marathon could be fine.  He's running at 10:30+ pace so it's not like he's going all out. I'm more comfortable with him running a marathon than an inactive 35-year old that just started running 4 months prior because a couple friends urged him to do it.

I don't know the kid at all but it didn't seem like he wasn't enjoying it.  He crossed the line with a huge smile on his face and one of my buddies ran by him about half way and he said he was a nice friendly kid, didn't seem like he was just doing it for someone else.

A pretty good article on this very topic:

    http://runningtimes.com/Print.aspx?articleID=23029

They conclude that high mileage 'ruining' kids' development is an urban legend.  It smells that way to me too, but I have no particular evidence or expertise here.

The potential for parents to push too hard is of course there, but it's there in many of the activities (especially competitive activities) that children do.  I don't see it as particularly more of a problem here than in football or soccer or gymnastics or quiz bowl or whatever.

However, the kid needs to learn to pace better.

My son is 6 and he just started running a mile with me every other day, he said next weekend he wants to go for 2.  I'm fine with this and if he would want to get up to a 5K or a kids tri but I would discourage him from anything more.  Just like I don't want him on video games all day, I don't want him concentrating on just running all the time too. 

I also don't want him beating me by the time he's 10

There's actually an outstanding program called Students Run LA that takes at-risk elementary through high school kids and trains and equips them to complete the LA marathon.

Appropriately done, I'm all for it. (Well, gee that goes for just about everything, right?) Maybe I'll feel differently if and when I have kids.

Understanding it is completely kid dependent, what do you think would be an appropriate age for a kid to run a 5K?  There are growing programs here in the US that train 3rd-5th graders (ages 8-10 or so) to run a 5K.

That would be my concern.  I'd be interested in what the research had to say. 

I attended a ski academy from age 12 through HS and I believe I was encouraged to do too much too early which damaged my growth plates.  No proof except I'm only 5'6" while everyone else in my family is bw 5'10" and 6'2" and yet my torso is longer than most family members.  Yes, I could leg press a car at age 13 but I wish I had my family's long legs instead.

Hmmm.

In the U.S. where adults stay children way too long I thik this will be shouted down, and perhaps it should be.

That said, our culture is different in the way it interacts with youth than many others. Almost entirely for the better, but not entirely.

This kid did something kids around the world do every day, usually not by choice. That's the sad thing. Right now there is a kid trying to run from Somalia to Kenya to save his/her own life. They probably won't make it.

In this context, I'll suggest 9 is a little young to be banging out a marathon, but I could be proven wrong.

good article.

young people have a huge advantage on their elders in repairing and recovering from injuries. i'm not a dr. or scientist, but maybe that same effect if going on with running and they recover very well, comparatively speaking. i don't think a lot of "older" people that run marthons should be doing so either.

dont get me wrong, my 4 year old daughter loves to run, and i would never let her run a marathon by age 9 because it seems excesive. but that's just me and doesn't mean its true.

This part is key.

I did my first marathon aged about 12 (can't remember exactly), and played around with running longer distances before that. I did it because I wasn't fast, but enjoyed challenging myself by going longer. Zero parental pressure; I just did it because I thought it sounded cool. There was a local trail marathon that a lot of folks used to do, most as a walk, and some would run. I enjoyed it, but didn't have the urge to do any more marathons for quite some time after that. No long term damage.

I am encouraging my 9-year old daughter to run. She already likes to do races up to 5k, especially if she can run with a friend, and she was talking this morning about doing a 10k some time. I've been suggesting gently to her that if she did more than zero running in between races she might find this easier. But there's no way that I would push her to train for longer races. That would have to come entirely from her (and I don't see that happening).

I spoke with a co-worker who is an avid runner and a cardiologist. He told me running a marathon is risky at any age! 

He also stated, you don't have to go long to reap the cardiovascular benefits.

My son ran his first 5k at 9. I had my daughter registered last year, at 7 to run a 5k turkey trot, but it was cold and raining so we stayed home. I also have 2 nephews that have been running for years, they run everywhere. One of them is 9 and has done a few 5k's. The other is 12 and has done a lot of races up to 10k's. He is looking forward to being old enough to run a half marathon. I would encourage a 9 year old to get out and be active, and run, not discourage them. None of these kids train like an adult would, they just run. My kids run a ton for soccer, they have no problem running a 5k, especially during soccer season. Outside of soccer they will run or bike with me, we run up and down the road, we just run to have fun. Honestly a 5k is nothing for an active kid.

* There is a program in my daughter's elementary school for third and fourth grade girls that is similiar to Girls On The Run. My daughter participates and loves it. It is run by a teacher who is a marathoner.

As for age appropriate distances, I coach 8 & 9 year olds girls soccer. My girls run over half a mile just to warm up at the beginning of practice, not to mention all of the running during, then they run about a quarter mile to cool down at the end. They are probably between 2-3 miles a night. A 1k or 2k run for a kid isn't much. Even the fun runs they have at most races are at least a mile.

I'm pretty sure that every one of those "kids shouldn't do" opinions about risk to their future health has been debunked.  Well, at least regarding exercise.  The reality is that kids recover better, and are far more relisilient than we old folk.  There are still a lot of physicians that believe that running 'wears out' knees and hips.  Turns out the opposite is true.  The more we move our bodies, the stronger they get.

What kids don't have is a good ability to evaluate risk.  So, provided that they've got a good coach (or parent).  Did the proper training and built up to the distance safely (which we'd advise for adults as well), I don't see any problem with their ability to cover the distance. 

I say 'hoorah!'.  He probably had a terrific experience.  Spent a lot of quality time running with one of his parents, achieved a goal that required tenacity and hard work, and got in great physical condition.  Really- what could be wrong with this?

On the other hand, he's probably not nearly as good at playing Angry Birds as some of his friends who will someday be increasing america's type 2 diabetes statistics.

And, an X2 to the above post by IronAnn

x2 my 9-year-old nephew ran his first 5K last year. He didn't specifically "train" for it but is involved in football and basketball so had the conditioning. It really sparked an interest in running for him and he'll be joining his middle school's cross country team next year. Aunt Lisa approves!
 
I actually WISH my parents would have encouraged running (or any athletics for that matter) when I was that age. Would have made this whole triathlon thing a heck of a lot easier.
  

Not totally in favor of it.

I only relate from a swimming background where I have some practical experience. My daughter was pretty good and I am a very competitive type of person but I glued my backside to the stand and never cheered loudly for her. Reason....no pressure. Other parents really pushed their kids very hard. Now 8 years later, the kids that were pressured by the parents to do well, you don't see them anywhere near a pool or in any competitive sport. Mine, well she came back from the last Worldchamps with silver and is training for a 70.3 in January. 

So if the kid wants to do it, sure, but there must be none and I mean no pressure at all on the kid. Even so I would think twice about. A marathon is not something you play with.