Dear Carol,

I have a question about the length of a run for children of a younger age.  I have a child in the 3rd grade.  My child recently has obtained a new gym teacher. 

This gym teacher is requiring all of the students from the 3rd grade to the 8th grade to run a mile.  My question is, "Is this healthy for the younger students?" My child is 8.

I am aware that children under the age of 13 should not lift weights because this in fact will do more harm than good.  I am worried running a mile is in the same league. 

I believe our children should be in shape but a mile for young children seems to be excessive especially if they are not use to running this distance.

Could someone give me good advice or am I over reacting?

Dear Dawn,

There is not a simple answer to this and people are not in agreement about this issue.

Let's see, I'll try to tell you what I know.

Our Coach Mick advises shorter distances for kids, however the President's Challenge Program does time kids your daughter's age  on the mile. See Qualifying Standards.

If you look at the 4 award categories, you'll see different standards from pretty fast running for the Presidential Physical Fitness Award to optional shorter distances and easy running for the Health Fitness Award.

Here is my opinion and it is only my opinion and remember that I am not a coach.  Keep in mind that my first graders run a mile (easy untimed running) by the end of the year, however they are carefully taught about pacing, they are not supposed to be racing, and they are allowed to take walking breaks if need be...

My opinion: kids should learn to love to run.   These programs are okay if the kids don't get discouraged. There will be some who are ready and eager to take on the mile as a timed distance, but only some. A good teacher will not race the kids all the time and will find a way to make kids of all ability and experience levels love to run.

I'm not sure what is happening with your daughter's program. Racing the mile for young kids is pretty strenuous, particularly without a careful build up of skills. I am not sure why the mile is the distance on these programs for the young kids. This would be something to discuss with your child's gym teacher and perhaps you might also spend a little time browsing on the Presidential Awards Web Page. I just ordered some materials from them to obtain more information about their programs.

Good luck!

Note from the kid's editor: Distance for young kids is one of the biggest controversies we have at KidsRunning.Com. We'd love to hear what other P.E. teachers have to say about this. Do you have any questions about a child's running program? Feel free to email the kid's editor at carolgoodrow@verizon.net.