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PCP
Joined: 13 Oct 2012
Posts: 2005
Location: Manchester
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 Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2018 4:24 pm Post subject: Running with young kids - how far is too far? |
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I have 5 year old twins (birthday 2 weeks ago) and the boy is bang into his sports. He plays football, rugby & cricket while his sister swims & dances
The local Great Run Parkrun has a 2km loop so I did this with both of them 6 weeks ago but ended up with her on my shoulders so the next week I went back with just him and he ran 13:28 which was a really good effort given he’d only run that distance once before and he loved it. He wants to do the 5km with me but I think it is too far. I reckon he’d cover about 3.5-4km before hating it and I don’t want him to hate it.
What do others run with their kids? How far is too far?
I’ve googled it but all I got was arguments and dick swinging from a loads of Americans
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explorerJC
Joined: 20 Oct 2005
Posts: 16060
Location: Farthingstone
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| Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2018 5:49 pm Post subject: |
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Let them run and recover in play...
The risk of too far too soon is that they will exceed their biomechanics limit ability...let it develop over time...
Edited to add that it also depends on how active they have been in life thus far...
UKA has guidance on race distance which is a reasonable guide...
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mattsurf
Joined: 28 Sep 2016
Posts: 852
Location: Zug, Switzerland
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| Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2018 5:59 pm Post subject: Re: Running with small kids - how far is too far? |
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| PCP wrote: | I have 5 year old twins (birthday 2 weeks ago) and the boy is bang into his sports. He plays football, rugby & cricket while his sister swims & dances
The local Great Run Parkrun has a 2km loop so I did this with both of them 6 weeks ago but ended up with her on my shoulders so the next week I went back with just him and he ran 13:28 which was a really good effort given he’d only run that distance once before and he loved it. He wants to do the 5km with me but I think it is too far. I reckon he’d cover about 3.5-4km before hating it and I don’t want him to hate it.
What do others run with their kids? How far is too far?
I’ve googled it but all I got was arguments and dick swinging from a loads of Americans |
Most important thing is not to put pressure on him, maybe try to do 5km, but if he has had enough be prepared to stop, and let him know right from the outset that he can stop any time (assuming it is feasible to stop of course), alternatively make it a run/walk or let him know that if he get tired he can go on your shoulders.
My daughter did London to Brighton Bike ride (54 miles) on a tandem, age 7, (her brother age 9 had to do it solo), we did it very slowly, around 7 hours, but both remember it very fondly.
This is not about dick swinging, it is not about you. Some kids do like to be challenged in a safe and controlled way
At Salisbury parkrun, I know of 2 families who run with 5 year olds... from what I see the kids do enjoy it (most of the time)
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gingerbongo
Joined: 21 Sep 2012
Posts: 1733
Location: Devon
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| Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 8:00 am Post subject: |
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| May be stating the obvious, but is there a junior parkrun near you? I think that is either 2 or 2.5km. Probably a 'safer' distance (in terms of enjoyment) for the little ones, but still getting that 'race' feel but with other kids of their own age (well up to 12/13 or whatever).
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Pedro Peru
Joined: 19 Apr 2010
Posts: 1064
Location: Leeds
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| Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 10:46 am Post subject: |
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| gingerbongo wrote: | | May be stating the obvious, but is there a junior parkrun near you? I think that is either 2 or 2.5km. Probably a 'safer' distance (in terms of enjoyment) for the little ones, but still getting that 'race' feel but with other kids of their own age (well up to 12/13 or whatever). |
+1
My Daughter is just truned 10, very active and enjoys sports in general. We still just do the junior park run and for her that is far enough. However, a friend's boy has been doing the adult one since he was 9 and still really enoys it.
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jibberjim
Joined: 15 Aug 2008
Posts: 8392
Location: Kingston
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| Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 11:33 am Post subject: |
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| Pedro Peru wrote: | | My Daughter is just truned 10, very active and enjoys sports in general. We still just do the junior park run and for her that is far enough. However, a friend's boy has been doing the adult one since he was 9 and still really enoys it. |
I don't get what "far enough" means exactly, what is inherently "enough" about less than 12 minutes of aerobic exercise? Sure it might be that individually the fitness of the person means that running for a longer time period is not appropriate, but it really needs to be about individual and not rigid approaches.
Even the supposedly easy to meet NHS guidelines of 60 minutes a day of which vigorous running should be part on occasion (or similar bone strengthening aerobic activities) would suggest that going for a run for 15 or 30 minutes is a good option, and if they are taking longer than 30 minutes for 5km, then it is exactly the sort of intermittent intensity activity that kids normally do.
Do whatever the kid wants, don't think one junior parkrun a week does much at all to contribute to a kids activity levels though.
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gingerbongo
Joined: 21 Sep 2012
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Location: Devon
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| Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 11:46 am Post subject: |
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To be fair i don't think anyone suggested 'only' doing one parkrun a week as the child's full activity profile. It was more in response ot the OP wanting to do some sort of structured run with his two (on top of the various other sports they do ).
Unless you're talking more generally about a wider perception (that may or may not be out there amongst parents) that a parkrun a week is sufficient; then sure, it isn't.
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jibberjim
Joined: 15 Aug 2008
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Location: Kingston
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| Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 1:07 pm Post subject: |
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| gingerbongo wrote: | | Unless you're talking more generally about a wider perception (that may or may not be out there amongst parents) that a parkrun a week is sufficient; then sure, it isn't. |
Yes, I was talking about this, "My son is very active", he does an hour PE twice a week, walks to school and parkrun on a sunday...
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gingerbongo
Joined: 21 Sep 2012
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Location: Devon
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| Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 1:12 pm Post subject: |
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| jibberjim wrote: | | gingerbongo wrote: | | Unless you're talking more generally about a wider perception (that may or may not be out there amongst parents) that a parkrun a week is sufficient; then sure, it isn't. |
Yes, I was talking about this, "My son is very active", he does an hour PE twice a week, walks to school and parkrun on a sunday... |
Fair one
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Pedro Peru
Joined: 19 Apr 2010
Posts: 1064
Location: Leeds
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| Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 1:40 pm Post subject: |
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| jibberjim wrote: | | Pedro Peru wrote: | | My Daughter is just truned 10, very active and enjoys sports in general. We still just do the junior park run and for her that is far enough. However, a friend's boy has been doing the adult one since he was 9 and still really enoys it. |
I don't get what "far enough" means exactly, what is inherently "enough" about less than 12 minutes of aerobic exercise? Sure it might be that individually the fitness of the person means that running for a longer time period is not appropriate, but it really needs to be about individual and not rigid approaches.
Even the supposedly easy to meet NHS guidelines of 60 minutes a day of which vigorous running should be part on occasion (or similar bone strengthening aerobic activities) would suggest that going for a run for 15 or 30 minutes is a good option, and if they are taking longer than 30 minutes for 5km, then it is exactly the sort of intermittent intensity activity that kids normally do.
Do whatever the kid wants, don't think one junior parkrun a week does much at all to contribute to a kids activity levels though. |
Sorry Jim, by far enough I mean that currently she wouldn't enjoy running further and doesn't want to. I don't mean she is unable to or there is some inherent reason she shouldn't. She only does the junior parkrun when she fancies it, there's no pressure from us. Sometimes she wants to run with one of us or come out on her bike while we run. Over the week she is very active with a wide variety of activities and sport as well as P.E. at school.
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PCP
Joined: 13 Oct 2012
Posts: 2005
Location: Manchester
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| Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 2:30 pm Post subject: |
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The parkrun is a 5k with a checkpoint at 2k for people who don’t want to do 5k. He plays football twice a week, walks to and from school daily with me and is very active.
My point was kind of wondering if the 5k was too far for him because he wants to do it. It is small lap, big lap, small lap, big lap, small lap for the 5k.
Maybe it is best to get through the 2k and do am extra small lap to see how he goes so about 2.5-3k and see how he goes. I just don’t want to ruin his fun or health.
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jibberjim
Joined: 15 Aug 2008
Posts: 8392
Location: Kingston
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| Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 2:36 pm Post subject: |
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| PCP wrote: | My point was kind of wondering if the 5k was too far for him because he wants to do it. It is small lap, big lap, small lap, big lap, small lap for the 5k.
Maybe it is best to get through the 2k and do am extra small lap to see how he goes so about 2.5-3k and see how he goes. I just don’t want to ruin his fun or health. |
Just make sure he knows he can stop. Otter did a 5km at 5 or so, there was a lot of confusion between her about 2 laps and 2km, because her junior parkrun was 1 lap = 1km. She went off very happy for about a mile, but then started asking about how many laps, and it was only a bit later that from talking we figured out it was her being confused why she hadn't even got back to the start and me saying she'd already done half, she thought it was just half a lap and she had another half and then four more!
If you don't force him, or excessively encourage him to the same result, you will not ruin either his fun or health.
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jibberjim
Joined: 15 Aug 2008
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| Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 9:47 pm Post subject: |
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| Pedro Peru wrote: | | Sorry Jim, by far enough I mean that currently she wouldn't enjoy running further and doesn't want to. I don't mean she is unable to or there is some inherent reason she shouldn't. |
Yeah, I probably shouldn't've quoted you for what was more a general point on the idea that running a particular amount could be bad for any kid, when there's a lot more variation in the individual than any explicit reasoning you can give that could apply to all children.
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Jorgan
Joined: 12 Nov 2007
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Location: alles was ich bin, alles was ich war
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| Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2018 9:10 am Post subject: |
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'Too far' is anything that either injures them or puts them off doing it again.
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explorerJC
Joined: 20 Oct 2005
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