Question for Runners/Track and Field People

Triathlon Forum
1

My 11 year old son is a pretty fast runner and he recently came in 3rd in the city wide elementary school track meet.
He is very excited about track and field and he is interested in going to the next level.
There is a local track club that will work with kids of his age.
The problem is that it would add about 4:30 hours of driving per week to my daily routine and would demand a lot of additional time also.

Does anyone think that initiating track at this age, would be a worthwhile investment of time for a child of this age?
If he were truly elite, wouldn’t that just as easily come out in junior high and high school?

2

Not at all worth it. Have him play a variety of sports. No way to tell at this age if he does indeed have any talent but if he does it will show in 9th or 10th grade

3

It sounds like this is just a major inconvenience for you.

If he wants to start training with the local track club let him. You don’t have to be elite at something to participate or enjoy it. Look at most of slowtwitch.

4

He’s 11, next week he’ll want to take his mashed potato sculpting to the next level. Run with him a couple times a week and when he gets to 8th grade let him join modified track

5 hours of driving and all the extra time is a lot to commit to a kids fickle interests

5

It sounds like this is just a major inconvenience for you.

If he wants to start training with the local track club let him. You don’t have to be elite at something to participate or enjoy it. Look at most of slowtwitch.

HE is 11. How’s he going to get there/back?

John

6

Shouldn’t there be a middle school track team coming up soon - or a summer track program?

7

As much as I’d love to say with everyone else that it’s not worth the time lost to you, I can attest with absolute confidence that had it been something like music, dance, or art, 5 hrs per week of transport time would be expected as a baseline level of commitment from the parent even for someone with only middling level of promise.

8

It sounds like this is just a major inconvenience for you.

If he wants to start training with the local track club let him. You don’t have to be elite at something to participate or enjoy it. Look at most of slowtwitch.

HE is 11. How’s he going to get there/back?

John

Well, seeing that the OP feels like he has better things to do…HE won’t be getting there.

9

It sounds like this is just a major inconvenience for you.

If he wants to start training with the local track club let him. You don’t have to be elite at something to participate or enjoy it. Look at most of slowtwitch.

HE is 11. How’s he going to get there/back?

John

Ride his bike. It’s great cross-training.

I think the point poorly made was - let the kid decide if HE actually wants to train with the local track club or not.
Then, if so, Dad hasta decide if HE is going to be supportive of it (via Dad’s taxi service), or not.

10

Actually, that was how I got myself to and from swim practice when I was 8-12. It was shy of 6 miles each way and I had a two wheeler with a banana seat that was most likely too high. Somewhere in there it got upgraded to a heavy steel road bike that is still in my mother’s basement. Probably not totally safe but hey, I survived and now I am a pretty good cyclist. Other than that, I am not a parent so I have basis for commentary.

11

Your sone sounds like me when i was his age and you sound like my parents. What I am saying is that Ive been in this situation. If he enjoys it…then he will gain ALOT from it. Let hime decide with understanding that he must live with his decision. Summer Track is great because they get in shape at a slower pace…middle school and high school SUCK because the coaches have literally a few weeks to get the kids in shape for the first meet…so they throw WAY TOO much volume and intensity for that age group and the kids lose interest. Summer Track and College allow you more time and less pressure to get yourself in shape…which makes for a MUCH more enjoyable experience. Ive been there and done all that and coached all that.

12

My 10 year old loves his track team. I try to get him to branch out and do soccer etc. He LOVES to run and the track team is his favorite thing. If your son wants to do it and you have time - go for it. I do think moniorring how much they run is good. I wont let my son do indoor at this age… maybe later in high school if still running. he chooses to swim in the winter during indoor… i tried for indoor soccer or lacrosse but swimming it is.

13

My 11 year old son is a pretty fast runner and he recently came in 3rd in the city wide elementary school track meet.
He is very excited about track and field and he is interested in going to the next level.
There is a local track club that will work with kids of his age.
The problem is that it would add about 4:30 hours of driving per week to my daily routine and would demand a lot of additional time also.

Does anyone think that initiating track at this age, would be a worthwhile investment of time for a child of this age?

Compared to what? Soccer? Running around the neighborhood? Running with you occasionally? What other options are there?

If he were truly elite, wouldn’t that just as easily come out in junior high and high school?

Methinks the real question you’re asking is whether or not his level of talent is right on the edge of truly elite, such that starting track at age 11, instead of waiting until junior high, would somehow be the key to some level of accomplishment otherwise unattainable. I don’t have enough info to answer this question, but find it unlikely. The other side of this to consider is whether or not the training would be age-appropriate and potentially injurious.

Of course this is all going on in the real world, with real schedule considerations that impact many people. I would see it as a cost/benefit type decision, and attempt to realistically take stock of the impact on you, your son, and other effected family members, and go from there.

Few other questions:

Is he required to attend track a certain number of days per week?
To go to every possible meet?
Are there options/gradations that would make the time commitment more workable?
Is this a year-round, unrelenting commitment like competitive swimming that leaves little room for anything else?
If so, would he be happy with it?
Would he be happy without it?
Is he so bitten by the bug, and so temperamentally suited to it, that it defines who he is, or is it just another cool activity to him?

My personal POV is that if someone, even a kid, wants something badly enough, s/he will go to great lengths to make it happen. The risks on either end are 1) not providing sufficient support to nurture the growth of the kiddo’s dreams; and 2) providing so much support, logistical and otherwise that the kiddo’s senses of initiative/ownership never grow. Today’s current crop of first world parents, my wife and I included, are far more likely to make error #2, which can be every bit as toxic to young dreams. So if it were me, and there were a way of letting one of my kids make some extra effort to “make it happen,” I would put the onus on them as much as is possible. Not sure how/if that applies to this question, though.

To the OP: You and I are from the same neck of the woods and have met IRL before. PM me if you’d like to talk further.

14

From what I’ve read, there are minimal long term benefits (if any) to running before 13 or 14. The eventual determining factor is simply going to be talent.

I think my friend Mike DiGenero is a great example. He ran in high school but really didn’t train much in the off season. He made the JV team of a mediocre D1 school. After freshman year he decided to start training pretty seriously. he was the number 1 runner on the team the following year, eventually broke the school record in the steeple chase, and managed to make it to US national champs/US Olympic trials 3 times.

How did he do all of this? Talent.

The question is, what would have happened if he had taken running seriously since he was 14…or even 11? He probably would have ended up running for a better school, but ultimately he would have ended up in the same spot…9th in the country, and about 20 seconds out of qualifying for the Olympic team. How do I know this? Its pretty simple. You plot the times that he ran every year and you start to notice them taper off in his mid 20s. In his last 4 years of competitive running he cut off about 7 seconds. By the laws of diminishing returns, its unlikely that he would have cut another 7 seconds (still not enough) in the next 4 years.

Anyway, take my anecdote with a grain of salt. Tennis, golf, swimming,…playing a musical instrument…anything that involves a technical skill gains a lot of benefits starting at a very young age. Running is just fitness, and it really doesn’t take very long to peak out at it. That’s my amateur opinion, anyway.

Wait 'till he’s 13. Just keep him active.

15

I’ve been a high school track coach for the last 12 years and I can tell you that if a kid has “it” they have “it”. Every year it seems like I have someone who comes out of no where to state qualifiers in some event that they didn’t even know they were good at. But with that said I think that if an 11 year old is passionate about a sport you should find a way to get them engaged in it. Track is a nice sport to coach at the High School level because there is not a huge advantage to kids who had the opportunity to start it at a young age, if you can run you can run, if you are fast you will be fast.

16

My 11 year old son is a pretty fast runner and he recently came in 3rd in the city wide elementary school track meet.
He is very excited about track and field and he is interested in going to the next level.
There is a local track club that will work with kids of his age.
The problem is that it would add about 4:30 hours of driving per week to my daily routine and would demand a lot of additional time also.

Does anyone think that initiating track at this age, would be a worthwhile investment of time for a child of this age?
If he were truly elite, wouldn’t that just as easily come out in junior high and high school?

I think the greatest thing here is that you have a kid who is interested in being physically active. And I personally would be doing what I could that was reasonable to foster that. Only you can decide if the car ride is reasonable.

You could of course always use the time he is training to do some of your training as well. I mean you are taking him to a track right?

17

I really appreciate everyone’s input.
Still have not made up my mind but I definitely think I know more now.

18

If your son wants to run, what is stopping him from beating the street on his own? Just enter him in an occassional race but do NOT push him at that age.

Remember the Garritson kids from the late 80s? Probably not, which is exactly the point. Their times at ages 9-13 suggested to many that they would be future olympians. Fizzle.

19

I can’t comment on the running development part of your question but as the parent of an almost 15 year old son who started very competitive travel baseball at 10 and added competitive travel hoops at 12 I have a couple of comments for you:

  1. I’ve seen a ton of super competitive and athletic kids in that age range (10-12) and I think the one thing that is universal across most sports is that if you can play (hit, shoot, run, whatever), you can play. If he’s really fast (elite) or has that ability, he’ll still have it in middle school or as a freshman. There is a player on my son’s HS baseball team now that I’ve watched grow up - he could never catch much or hit but he could freakin run. I told his parents that he should try track several years ago and they looked at me like I was crazy. Guess what - he can now hit so he made the team but what everyone notices is how fast he is. He’s just fast - he’s never run anywhere outside of a baseball or football field but if he went to the track I have no doubt he’d be welcomed there with open arms (he’ll probably never end up running track though - shame) .

  2. Putting the fact that he’d probably be fine development wise to run on his own and go to races with you the next year or two, that 4:30 extra hours a week sounds like a lot of time - and it is - but you’ll be in the car with your son and it’s time that he’s not always going to want to spend with you. I have driven to countless practices, games, tournaments the last 4 years but I was able to spend a lot of extra time with my son that I otherwise may not have been able too. We’ve got a lot of great memories from those trips - some just the two of us and others the whole family and I don’t regret any of it. Just something to think about.

20

I’m in exactly the same situation. I have a son who is 11 and can run (and swim). I also coach Track and X Country. My priorities as a father and coach are:

  1. Make it fun - he should always want to do it. Play games, catch, relays, etc. Kids are competitive and as long as it is enjoyable will push themselves.
  2. Keep the mileage low but speed up - you don’t want to kill speed at a young age and endurance comes with the years.
  3. Keep him in other sports - soccer, rugby, lacrosse, etc. where he can run.
  4. Keep him flexible and follow good practice with regards warm up and cool down. Read up on Severs disease!
  5. If he competes your first question should be “Did you enjoy it?” Try to enourage him to talk about what he learned, liked or where he was able to push himself to beat his PB. Try to avoid asking if he won - he will tell you that if he did!
  6. Do everything in your power to encourage his passion. I have stopped competing so my kids can get my full attention.
  7. Join in - they love doing things with their Dad - you only have a few more years until they think you are a geek so enjoy the time with them! :wink:
    Cheers.