Marathon kids: Too young to run? (Read 1047 times)

I wouldn't really recommend a marathon for anybody that hasn't finished growing, but I also wouldn't stop them. The danger is in the training, not the distance. I remember reading a study about 10 or 12 years ago that said that 10 year olds had bodies that were ideally suited to marathoning, because they were old enough to have the determination to train and they had a better fuel reserve to body mass ratio than adults. I also remain convinced that I stunted my growth when I went to college and immediately jumped into minimum 85 and average 95 mile weeks. All through high school, my feet went up a size, my height went up a few inches, my feet went up a size, my height went up a few inches (I was premature and didn't hit the real growth spurts until late sophomore year) - right before college, my feet got bigger but then I was training hard and never grew up any more. I put on 10 pounds while eating less food than I had been at home, though. Kids are capable of amazing things even at a young age. Don't hold them back. Braxton Bilbry wasn't held back by his parents when he wanted to be the youngest swimmer to swim into shore from Alcatraz a year and a half ago. He put in the work to be able to do it, and when it came time to do so he managed the swim in 47 minutes.

Just messing with you, Daddyo. Good to see that you've been able to get out and run a couple of times. I've been through the bear of ITBS, and you must be one tough SOB to run a marathon on it.