it's a family thing :) (Read 548 times)

Here are a couple of pics from last weekend. The beauty in the white tank top beside me is my 13 year old daughter. She finished well at 27:32 for the 5k and she hasn't been training much since last school year. The other photo is my lovely wife who I have managed to get back into running as well and she is making time improvements every week.

LOL! So long as you wash it whenever it gets stiff... keeps things from chafing as much... Cool that your family's in it with ya!

Does anyone know what the recommended age is for children to start running?. I have a five year old who is desparate to run with me in a short race.

All of my kids like to race with me. Actually I guess I race with my kids now because they've been doing it for a couple of years and I just started in January. Our local running group has a great summer program for kids. A little running and then a lot of fun running games a couple of times a week. They also put on 2 one-mile races during the summer that the kids can participate in if they choose. My 3 yo started this summer and won a trophy for the 6 and under age group at her first race in July. She ran a 12:20 at the race we did a couple of weekends ago. (It won't be long before I won't be able to keep up with her! LOL!) My 10 yo 5th grader started running 5Ks this summer. He's good too. I've never been able to keep up with him. In one 5K we ran this summer, he finished 15 seconds behind a couple of 16 yo runners on the high school cross country team. My 8 yo prefers the one mile races but ran/walked her first 5K with a friend this summer also. And then my 16 yo runs for his high school cross country team. He started running when he was in the 6th grade. My kids aren't out there pounding the pavement everyday (except for the 16 yo). Most of their running is on grass and occasionally at the school track, which they think is great fun. Most of it is in play. We live out in the country and they run all the time. When they formally started running with the group, none had any trouble running that first timed mile. In fact, with no previous "practicing" my 10 yo ran a 6:01 mile. There are lots of races out there that include a shorter "fun run" or that are designed for kids. I try to pick races like that. The kids get to run their race and I can run the 5K or 10K or whatever. The kids also did a kid's triathlon this summer as well as a 25 mile bike rally. They love it. It's a great way to spend time together as a family. And the kids rally like that we all get matching t-shirts. LOL! We try to pick neat races. One was through an exotic feline rescue center, winding through the cages of tigers and lions. One was a race that started at midnight. One was at the air guard base, running down the runways. We'll keep it up as long as the kids seem to like it. Teresa