Long read, but worth it as this is really an interesting story about 10 and 12-year-old sisters that are racing distance events (e.g., up to the marathon).
My favorite quote, pretty wise for a 12-year-old: Kaytlynn and Heather, though two years apart, were both born June 28. The older girl is the more serious of the two. “For some reason, running is really fun, even though it hurts sometimes,” Kaytlynn said. “I enjoy it. I can go on and on without getting tired. It makes a purpose in my life.”
Figured this would be good fodder for the forum. I have mixed opinions; not sure how much of it is journalistic sway, but I get a sense that the father may not be the most neutral influence. I saw on Facebook a friend of mine posted something about Kenyans running at even younger ages, but I think while most of the focus in this article is on the physical aspects, I would be worried about the psychological strain of racing at such a young age…and all the other risks that face young women (let alone girls) that come with competitive running.
they were featured in outside magazine a month or so ago. Dad seems like a bit of an ass. In outside he said he was going to have them run HNL marathon the week after XTerra, even if the event organizers didn’t let them run because of age.
they were featured in outside magazine a month or so ago. Dad seems like a bit of an ass. In outside he said he was going to have them run HNL marathon the week after XTerra, even if the event organizers didn’t let them run because of age.
He’s a fucking tool. I’ve seen him in action at races yelling at his (then) 9 year old while she was running. She was crying up a storm.
I saw the girls before and during the race in Utah. They seemed very excited to be there and into running and racing. I also witnessed the dad yelling at the younger girl during the race. It was uncalled for.
If they want to run and race I don’t think there is a problem with it but I think their dad needs to back way off.
I’ve seen them. Agree on dad being a jerk. He seeded them in a tri at the front in a time trial type start, only to have them be passed by LOTS of people AND cause problems as they didnt know how to let people pass. I also did see the yelling and crying. And felt really bad for them. Also - from the performance in that tri, i don’t know if they are being taught pacing. But they do have some talent. I hope they find a good coach who can give them the right training.
I also think having your 9 year old do an oly distance tri with a 1500m open water swim with several hundred other racers (99% adults) is borderline child endangerment.
These types of parents are a dime a dozen on football/soccer/lacrosse/hockey pitch. Generally, it is too small Dad leading a second childhood as a athletic champion through their children. I’ve seen many of these kids end up horrible injured before high school…
I did my first Olympic when I was 13, smaller than 5 feet tall and weighed less than 80lbs. I was fine finished in about 3 hours. Both my parents Ran and did tris sand I wanted to be like them. When my mom pushed me to be fast I decided on hated it and started riding exclusively. Support but do not push your kids. Dad does sound like an ass.
This reminds me of a family of kid runners back in the 80’s; I can’t for the life of me remember their last name, but I think they were from TX, and there were both boys and girls, though I think the girls (also in the 10-12 kind of age range) were the more competitive runners. They were definitely written about in Runners World or a similar running magazine at the time, the father was a similar presence, and at least one of the girls did a marathon (or was going to when the article was written). Does anyone else remember these kids? It doesn’t seem like they stuck around in running, at least not at the level their trajectory would have suggested, and that seems like a predictable outcome. Frankly, I think the last thing running needs is to become more like swimming, where a ton of kids swim really intensely at a young age, and a lot of them are burnt out (and injured) by the time they get to college. (Although I guess you could argue it’s good on average, if not for many of the individuals, since as a country we do pretty well internationally in swimming.)
I can further attest to the dad being an ass. I’ve seen them at many races around town. They seem like good kids. They seem to enjoy it but he definitely pushes them too hard.
They were just in the news again. . .California I believe. A group of the older kids were out on a run and got mauled by a pack of semi-ferel pitbull mixes on the edge of an Indian reservation. Apparently a guy even came and saw the two boys getting attacked, grabbed his dog and left them to die. Unreal.
This reminds me of a family of kid runners back in the 80’s; I can’t for the life of me remember their last name, but I think they were from TX, and there were both boys and girls, though I think the girls (also in the 10-12 kind of age range) were the more competitive runners. They were definitely written about in Runners World or a similar running magazine at the time, the father was a similar presence, and at least one of the girls did a marathon (or was going to when the article was written). Does anyone else remember these kids? It doesn’t seem like they stuck around in running, at least not at the level their trajectory would have suggested, and that seems like a predictable outcome. Frankly, I think the last thing running needs is to become more like swimming, where a ton of kids swim really intensely at a young age, and a lot of them are burnt out (and injured) by the time they get to college. (Although I guess you could argue it’s good on average, if not for many of the individuals, since as a country we do pretty well internationally in swimming.)
Yeah, I remember that family too (a son and two daughters). The kids were running insane times (9 y.o. girl running 36min 10ks in her gymnastics outfit). All this talk about how they were going to be olympians/set world records once they got older. As is pretty typical, they got injured and burnt out long before.
Running is an impact sport, and isn’t as form-dependent as swimming. The kids that start running young get no real advantage over those who start as teens, same can’t be said of swimming.
I had mixed emotions reading this. On one hand, like that the kids enjoy running and are amazing at it. Concerned about the Dad, though kids need to be pushed at times. Yelling at a 9 year old kid in a race is not the way to do it.
I had mixed emotions reading this. On one hand, like that the kids enjoy running and are amazing at it. Concerned about the Dad, though kids need to be pushed at times. Yelling at a 9 year old kid in a race is not the way to do it.
What I witnessed last year at the Houston Triathlon was way beyond acceptable. First, it was 97 degrees out and it was miserable. He was just berating the girls to go faster. Screaming at a 9 year old for walking some of a 10K in hour 3+ of her triathlon in the scorching heat was over the top.
as for their future prospects, i’m also ambivalent about it. i went to highschool in a town and with a cohort that produced an inordinate number of high-caliber runners. many flamed out, many simply took it about as far as their talent or professional/personal goals would take them, and a few punched through to national/international/olympic success. but in retrospect, i’m not sure there’s much of a solid pattern predicting who ‘made it’ and who didn’t.
in 2024, we may be watching these girls set records at the olympics, or they might be paralegals in omaha.