Fun Run

Question
John

My 9 year old son has joined the cross country club at his school, they have been meeting once a week and jogging 2 to 3 km this has been running for about weeks. My son has now asked me if we can enter an 8 mile fun run, being the sporty type we have entered and started training. At the moment we are training twice a week and running 3 to 4 miles each session my son seems to do this with ease. My only concern is pushing him to fast to soon and causing him long term damage, are there any guide lines on distances for children. He is a very fit young boy who plays football and is part of a swimming club.

Answer
Hi Kevin
There is no guide lines for for young kids in your sons age plus or minus.The most important two things to remember is kids bodies are growing and the muscular skeletal system and energy systems are what drives it.Second it is very very important that the child is happy and enjoying himself and participates in sports and events of his choosing.The hardest thing for a parent is holding a kid back when they feel he is not recovering properly and will have increase of injury.It sounds to me like you have a very fit son and has utilized many muscle groups in his activities and as long as you just keep the pace of the 8 miler in a very comfortable zone and adjust along the way he will be fine.You want to make sure when the race is over that you let his body recover very well before going full bore back into any activity that is going to stress the things earlier i mentioned.I would suggest 2 weeks to be on the safe side.The recovery is the most important part of training.Where there is no recovery there is no growth or healing and moving to the next level.To enhance your race for your son i would take one of your 2 runs and at a much slower pace gradually increase that run once a week up until 2 weeks before your race.This will greatly make it a more enjoyable experience.A mile to a mile and a half i think would do fine.If you have other questions Kevin just get in touch.

All the very best

John