Hello Mark,

My 10 year old son, seems to be a fairly good runner. He does not train for running but playing select soccer, karate and baseball seem to give him some all around training. In running he outruns everybody he sees. When they have events at school he is beating school records as a fourth grader in a k-6 school. But everything is relative. Maybe they haven't had any real runners in the past.

As an untrained runner he ran a 6:26 mile and had nobody to push him.

Is this good? Is he too young to start a training program? Are there health risks of too much running at this young age? Should we just let him keep up with his all around sports programs for now?

I appreciate any help you can provide.

Dear Tom,

Listed below are results from the "metric mile" at last summer's Junior Olympic National Championships in Buffalo (you can add about 18-20 seconds for this to roughly equate times with the mile). This meet brought in athletes from all over the country, who qualified by winning at progressional meets. Your son's time -- with no training -- is excellent. It definitely shows promise if that is a sport that he enjoys. And there's certainly nothing to prevent an athlete from competing in as many sports as he or she enjoys; "cross-training" is good for all sports and will probably help prevent "burnout" at a young age!

Log onto our website at http://www.usatf.org and check out the youth section. You'll also find information on our Youth Athletics National Championships in Decatur, IL, this summer, which might be a good introduction to national competition. You can also link to our "Associations" section to find the USATF local group nearest you -- they can be of assistance with meets and clubs in your area.

Thanks for writing, and best of luck to your son!

KidsRunning.Com thanks Mark Springer, Director of Grass Roots Programs & Planning, USA Track & Field, usatf.org for writing this Springer Tip for KR.

You may email andy.martin@usatf.org.