HIGH SCHOOL TRAINING FOR YOUNG KIDS??? XC Dear Coach Ed, Hi.  I have a few questions concerning the amount of training that kids ages 7 through 13 should be doing for cross-country.  I have been an assistant coach with an elementary school team for the past two years now.   Let me give you the break down of the race distances for the ages mentioned: -Grades 1 - 3  run a course that is approximately 9 miles -Grades 4 - 5  run a course that is 1.89 miles with 2 grassy hills -Grades 6 - 7 run a course that is also 1.89 miles but with steeper hills that are rock and gravel in addition to the grassy hills -Grade 8 runs a course that is 2.4 miles with more of the same from the above group My biggest concern comes recently with one of the assistant coaches who seems to want the kids to progress at a much faster rate.  She has begun to hand out articles taken from this Web site but from the high school pages.  She has just handed out a page on training tips for the high school runner.  I am concerned because I believe that this will lead to over-training and ultimately over use injuries.  I believe that these young kids, some of whom are not necessarily runners but just kids who want to be involved in an activity, should primarily be having fun with running.  I wonder if this type of training will only serve to intimidate as well as injury too many of these kids in the long run.  (Pardon the pun). I would appreciate any insight that you might be able to give me on this issue.  Thanks for your time. An avid runner, parent and assistant coach, Carolyn Carolyn,  High school running programs should never be considered in a youth age group program.    I was asked to put on 3 age group cross-country meets this year for a local YMCA.  The distance was 1 mile for 10 and under 1.5 miles for 11-14.  That is close to the race distances you mentioned. I think we are on the same page with the distance issue.      Age group running programs (7-14) should focus on fun, participation, and learning.  The Jaguar's (the team I coach) slogan is "Building Character, Courage, and Confidence in young people through Track & Field."  Athletes are taught, in a fun way,  basic training techniques and skills that will allow them to confidently compete in youth track and field meets.  There are no minimum practices an athlete must attend.  There are no minimum track meets they must attend. An athlete soon finds out the more practices they attend and the more meets they participate in the better they get.  A young persons contribution to the team is not determined by how fast they run, how high they jump, or how far they can throw.  Regardless of ability, every athlete gets the same amount of attention from the coaching staff and have the same competitive opportunities.  The young people on our team learn that just like some kids are tall and some are short, some run faster and some run slower,  So what? They all get to participate, do their best, and have fun. How does that work?  We have 100 kids every season having fun and participating in track and field. When an athlete reaches high school age they have knowledge of the sport.  They are not intimidated by competition. They know how to train and take direction from coaches.  That should be the point of an elementary school running program. Good luck, Coach Ed Ed Poirier, "Coach Ed", recently was invited by the United States Olympic committee to attend a workshop and training seminar at the Olympic training center in California. Feel free to email the kid's editor at goodrow@infi.net with comments on this column.