Jogging - Safe for kids?

Question
I recently began jogging and my 9 year old said he wants to tag along.  Is it safe for a child of this age?

Answer
It really depends on how far you go, and how far your son is able to go.  If he tries to keep up to you, it will probably be too fast for him perhaps.  

I would encourage him to be active and perhaps do some shorter distance jogs, such as going around a block or running around a city park area, taking rests in-between.  Don't have him 'race' it, just let him run at his own pace he can handle.  Maybe it will take just 2-4 times around the block, I don't know, before he gets too tired.  There hasn't been a lot of research on young runners, because most young athletes will be brought up in other sports such as soccer, hockey, & basketball at very young ages.  So, there isn't much left of a population that wants to start with running as a sport.  Most see running as a training method for the other sports, instead of being a sport by itself.

I haven't trained many runners in your son's age range, so that's the best I can advise from what I know.

Rick Karboviak