BLACK BELT STANDARDS 9 Year Olds Dear Carol, Hello, my name is Brian and my son is 9 years old and going for his Black Belt. His teacher is making them do a 2-mile run in 16 minutes. There are 4 other people inhhis class and he flunked all of them for not making it. Is a 16-minute, 2-mile run too much for a 9 year old? If you can answer me, that would be great. Thank you, Brian Dear Brian, At kidsrunning.com, we want children to learn to embrace running for a lifetime activity. A practice like this will probably discourage youngsters from running. I think the standard is too high. The Presidential Award Standard for 9 year olds is 8:36 for a mile, that would translate to about 18 minutes at least for 2 miles, and that's the highest award. The National Physical Fitness standard for 9 year olds is 10:30 per mile. I'm not sure how these Black Belt programs work, if they help condition and train the children for running, if they level with you about the requirements before you enter the program, etc. These are practices which would help prevent the disappointment after the children have worked hard and passed the other standards. I hope this helps. Do some browsing on this Web site and find a way to make your child love running. Good luck with your son, Carol Feel free to email the kid's editor at goodrow@infionline.net.