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I run quite a few races these days, my favorite activity c. October '21 - current and remainder of '22 barring injuries. At the moment I do Half Marathons mostly. Some 10Ks, too. Road and trail. My instincts are trail runs induce more participant injuries but I can't prove it.
Halfs are tough enough, at pace or otherwise. I trained for more than a year to w/currrent personal best a little under 1hr 38min (road) at age 54. I haven't trained for a Marathon, it's a much bigger deal. The organizations that marshal these events cannot police everyone but do spot for race bibs. They are not "the" police though. Organizers almost always (or always?) provide medical services. Also hydration, and often snacks during. Always both after. Nicer events feature actual post-race meals. All are for recovery of runners during a by-definition strenuous activity.
There are a few kids on Halfs, two kids were in the front group for the Teanaway Trail Run just last week (Cle Elum WA) as was I. Guessing c. 10 years old each and they can be quite fast indeed though usually not over distance: they aren't developed like grown men and women w/muscle and lung capacity(!). A 5K, 10K, and Half Marathon ran from the gun together a few miles before splitting off. I'm 100% sure there are many kids in 5Ks.
Races are not chaotic but do require staff at different points on the course. The Lake Samm Half on March 6 for example, a road course, had more than 1,100 participants. I suspect summer events upcoming may have that or more here in metro Seattle. Asking organizers to police the participants to that level of detail, who should/should not be on the course, is not in my opinion reasonable. We can discuss 'reasonable.'
Independent of 'who owns it' is that a 6 year old cannot run a full Marathon absent training, and probably not at all (I'm not a trainer, rather educated layman). That's sadistic at worst, irresponsible of the parents at-best, very poor decision making all around.
I run quite a few races these days, my favorite activity c. October '21 - current and remainder of '22 barring injuries. At the moment I do Half Marathons mostly. Some 10Ks, too. Road and trail. My instincts are trail runs induce more participant injuries but I can't prove it.
Halfs are tough enough, at pace or otherwise. I trained for more than a year to w/currrent personal best a little under 1hr 38min (road) at age 54. I haven't trained for a Marathon, it's a much bigger deal. The organizations that marshal these events cannot police everyone but do spot for race bibs. They are not "the" police though. Organizers almost always (or always?) provide medical services. Also hydration, and often snacks during. Always both after. Nicer events feature actual post-race meals. All are for recovery of runners during a by-definition strenuous activity.
There are a few kids on Halfs, two kids were in the front group for the Teanaway Trail Run just last week (Cle Elum WA) as was I. Guessing c. 10 years old each and they can be quite fast indeed though usually not over distance: they aren't developed like grown men and women w/muscle and lung capacity(!). A 5K, 10K, and Half Marathon ran from the gun together a few miles before splitting off. I'm 100% sure there are many kids in 5Ks.
Races are not chaotic but do require staff at different points on the course. The Lake Samm Half on March 6 for example, a road course, had more than 1,100 participants. I suspect summer events upcoming may have that or more here in metro Seattle. Asking organizers to police the participants to that level of detail, who should/should not be on the course, is not in my opinion reasonable. We can discuss 'reasonable.'
Independent of 'who owns it' is that a 6 year old cannot run a full Marathon absent training, and probably not at all (I'm not a trainer, rather educated layman). That's sadistic at worst, irresponsible of the parents at-best, very poor decision making all around.
In the picture though he is wearing one of those official race papers with a number on it. So unless parents stole one from someone he was given one by race personnel. But clearly he is below the posted age minimum. The article states that race personnel “will enforce the age limit going forward" after receiving backlash. So it sounds like they let him run it.
In the picture though he is wearing one of those official race papers with a number on it. So unless parents stole one from someone he was given one by race personnel. But clearly he is below the posted age minimum so IDK.
and so are the parents - so they didn't just jump into the race.
It's interesting how there's so many supportive comments from clueless people on the YouTube video.
It's obvious these 'parents' did this for social media bragging rights. And if you read of his run, you'll notice that he broke down crying at one point but daddy convinced him to keep running by promising to buy him Pringles chips. I swear, the narcissist social media generation these days, FFS.
And yes, there is most definitely an age restriction for this particular marathon, minimum of 18 years of age to participate (the 'parents' somehow weaseled their way out of this). A 6-year old has zero business running a full marathon, especially one where he was having mental/physical breakdown during the marathon.
Looks like a great way to quash a kid's interest in physical exercise! Make it torture! Parents who create little zealots and then get their vicarious jollies off them disgust me.
I run quite a few races these days, my favorite activity c. October '21 - current and remainder of '22 barring injuries. At the moment I do Half Marathons mostly. Some 10Ks, too. Road and trail. My instincts are trail runs induce more participant injuries but I can't prove it.
Trail races tend to be slower pace and lower impact than road races so while you are probably higher prone to falling Im not sure the overall injury rate is higher
Quote:
Halfs are tough enough, at pace or otherwise. I trained for more than a year to w/currrent personal best a little under 1hr 38min (road) at age 54. I haven't trained for a Marathon, it's a much bigger deal. The organizations that marshal these events cannot police everyone but do spot for race bibs. They are not "the" police though. Organizers almost always (or always?) provide medical services. Also hydration, and often snacks during. Always both after. Nicer events feature actual post-race meals. All are for recovery of runners during a by-definition strenuous activity.
This is on both the parents and the race director. The parents bandit the race before, the rd knew who they were and allowed a 6 year old to register. It’s rather way to spot an unpaid 6 year old participant and pull them from a 1/2 or full marathon
Quote:
Independent of 'who owns it' is that a 6 year old cannot run a full Marathon absent training, and probably not at all (I'm not a trainer, rather educated layman). That's sadistic at worst, irresponsible of the parents at-best, very poor decision making all around.
Per the dad they finished 8:35 with the kid struggling, wanting to take a break and sit down every 3 minutes, they bribed him with pringles, the aid stations were gone at the end as would be typical with a 6-7 hour cutoff. This kid wasn’t trained and the RD should have never allowed it even if the idiot parents wanted to try
Seriously, these parents are nuts and the folks with the race are not much better. This is insane.
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Looks like a great way to quash a kid's interest in physical exercise! Make it torture! Parents who create little zealots and then get their vicarious jollies off them disgust me.
