ADHD and My Son
by Ramona Blackman, June 3, 2001

USATF JO, Reno, NV, Kingstown, RI, JO Runners Up, warm up for Nationals. Photo: Lorraine Horton Could this intense activity be doing more than just helping these kids become skilled athletes, while staying healthy and fit? Could it also be helping reduce conflict and oppositional problems? According to this mom the answer is "Yes," that is IF they are kids who have been diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ). My 10 year old son was recently diagnosed with ADHD and is currently on Ritalin. Before diagnosis, he had been in the emergency room several times for either stitches or broken bones. In fact, his first broken bone occured before he was 2 years old from jumping on the bed and falling off. In May 1999, he fell off his bike and broke his femur. He was hospitalized for two weeks before a body cast was put on. In November the same year, he was horsing around with his brother and broke his wrist bone. He has a bad habit of running in tight areas and jumping off everything he can think of. He acts without thinking, it seems, and winds up injuring himself. I also have a 12 year old son who is quite different. However, he is very active in interscholastic sports. This year, he played every sport offered. When his coaches asked him to join Track & Field, he was hesitant because he didn't want to have to run so much. My sister in law is a triathlete and I asked her for assistance. She asked him to join her in a 5K run and told him if he liked it, he might enjoy Track & Field. If he didn't like it, then Track & Field may not be for him. He took 5th place in his division and decided he liked it. He joined Track & Field and his coach put him in the 2400 m division. His time improved each race. Now, when running the 5K, he usually comes in top 3 for his division of 13 yr old and below. His best time is 22 minutes. What does this have to do with my ADHD child? Well, throughout his brother's sports, my 10 year old was always trying to learn and play the same sport. He wanted to "hang" with his big brother and his friends. Since those sports were school teams, he couldn't participate much, but he would play at home or after practice at the school. He often got in the way of his brother and friends. After the 1st 5K that the 12 year old ran, the 10 year old wanted to do it too. So the following week, I took them both to another 5K with some of their friends. The 10 year old, never having run that far before, became scared of the feeling he got in his heart. He quit at the half point saying he felt like his legs were going up to his chest. The older boys later explained to him that that is a normal feeling when running for a long time. The following week, we did it again. My 10 year old had more confidence and this time he finished the race. Not only did he finish, he did very well. Now the three of us do the 5K run/walk every weekend, if possible. The boys run and I walk. Since doing the 5K's, I've noticed a decrease in hyperactivity in my younger son on the days that he runs. I thought that maybe the running is using up his energy that he doesn't have the urge to move around as much. I mentioned this to his psychiatrist and he agreed that this may be ideal for my ADHD child. I strongly feel that not only will it be an outlet for his hyperactivity, he would also develop muscle tone to protect his bones from further breaks. It will also allow him to develop his endurance and discipline for when he joins sports in middle school. I just bought the Runner's World magazine for the first time today and logged on to the net. I found your site and the articles about running and ADHD and felt I needed to let you know that I agree that the running is a good thing for my 10 year old son. In fact, since we began doing the 5K's on the weekends, our whole family is enjoying better fitness and health. Thank you for the Web site.

Are you a teacher or parent of a child who has been diagnosed with ADHD? Are you a runner who suspects that you were blessed with quite a bit of extra energy? If so, please let us know what you think give us a glimpse of how you would use this to help kids focus, learn, and just plain be able to comply with the rules of school.

Here are some links to other ADHD/Running articles on this site.

How Running and Exercise can Impact the Behavior of ADHD Children January 31, 2001, by Dr. Michael S. Wendt, Ed.D

Getting their Attention by Hal Higdon