http://fittish.deadspin.com/10-year-old-girl-sets-a-world-record-1576257746
Ping herself showed some healthy hesitancy about putting such a fine point on her goal, saying, “To set the world record. Yea… to set the world record.” The important stats are irrefutable — she is a very fast runner, she’s an A student, she likes pink and she has big dreams, which, taken together, put her far ahead of most people on the planet.
Puts me to shame.
Pretty cool. But I sure hope she gets a good coach that understand how to set limits on training to have a long career. I could see her with a career ending injury before she’s 14 if she’s not careful.
But can she swim?
Pfft. I know several guys in who can run a 5k that fast.
Okay, fine. I know 1 guy who can run that fast.
And it’s not me.
Man, that kid is good.
Mighty impressive, but highly doubtful a world record. Youth running competitively seemed more accepted back in the 80s and many boys and girls ran really fast in the 9-11 yo range.
The one I know of was Deresa Walters of Rochester, NY who ran a 35 minute 10K at age 11. I know this because at the time I had the boys age 11 10K national record and she beat it. The girls record was faster than the boys, but at least both were in Rochester. Humbling. I can’t find much online about her, but here’s a reference to her at 9yo running 41 minute hilly cross country 10K in 1983.
Keep in mind that in that age range girls mature a LOT faster than boys. Many of those girls that are fast under 13, will often mature and get slower after peaking at 15-16. Very, very common among swimmers it seems. A lot of High School girls around here set their personal records their sophomore or junior year, then never break them again. Some of that might be burn-out too.
This was supposed to be a piece of happy cheerful news. You should clap your hands, smile, and say “good job”!
This x 100.
Almost every kid that I’ve seen run fast times at 13 years or younger is burnt out by the time they are 16. Girls can be faster than boys until they hit puberty. Then the body changes and they actually get slower and lose faith in it.
There are exclusions to the rule, and I hope she is one of them.
The big thing that concerns me is how much is driven by the parents. 10-20 mpw isn’t a lot, which is good, but how hard are the parents driving her? I’ve seen 8 year old kids being yelled at to go faster, faster, faster during a daily workout, and that isn’t healthy in my opinion. I obviously don’t know if that is the case here, but it always worries me.
I got toddlered by an 11 year old this past weekend when he laid down a 17:23 5k.
It is an overly sensationalist headline that detracts from what was an impressive feat. Hope she enjoyed it (the run, not the headline).
At the risk of sounding like Fleck with a “Remember When” post:
Remember when the accomplishments of 10 year olds could be celebrated without comparing them the accomplishments of every other 10 year old in the world? We didn’t care about age group world records. It was enough to be the fastest in her neighborhood, or school, or girl scout troop. We didn’t try to attract undue attention (of college scouts? of sponsors?) by advertising it to the world.
Such is the world we live in, I suppose. Something has to be “the best ever” to worthy of praise. And then we blow it all out of proportion and try to make the kid a super hero.
What happened to “Great work!! That 18:05 and a dollar will get you a candy bar. Now go wash the dishes and do your homework.”
P.S. Get Off My Lawn
she is pretty amazing but I agree, she could easily burn out, injur herself, her parents could push her too much, or whatever. Maintaing regular training for a kid is difficult as even with success, the right training (ie, not too much), she could just get bored with running.
there are all sorts of kids that do well when young and are the next great hope so to speak, and virtually all of them fade into obscurity.
Me? I had potential as a kid (not like her but had some potential). I was doing well until I found out about girls, cars and booze! I faded to mediocraty quite spectacularly 
I applaud her results, her apparently grreat attitude and good support network, but it’s still to early to suggest world domination. Hell, I just hope she loves running, all her life! That would be a better result if you ask me.
I bet there’s a few 10 year old girls sitting in their village in Kenya who (if they read this) would be shaking their head and thinking ‘not even close’
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I bet there’s a few 10 year old girls sitting in their village in Kenya who (if they read this) would be shaking their head and thinking ‘not even close’
Well, they better enter a sanctioned 5k race somewhere then
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