Long-distance runners are revered as some of the best athletes in the world. Most will agree that running 26.2 miles in any amount of time is a great feat. Some can finish it in two hours, and others in seven. Long distance events range from the one and two-mile in track or the 5k and 6k in cross country, all the way to the 100 miler. Running is a lifelong sport and hobby, even if a runner chooses not to be competitive. A runner can be anyone; a seven year-old Kenyan wearing one of the two outfits he owns, running barefoot, multiple miles to school and back, or an 80 year-old woman in the United States with all of the latest and most glaring neon gear, running just to stay moving in her old age. In America, a youth running movement is upon us. Doctors are seeing that, "In recent years, there has been a surge in the participation of children in distance running. It is not unusual for an aspiring prepubescent athlete to run 10 to 15 miles daily and to participate in distance races, including marathons (26.2 miles)" (Nelson). However, eyebrows have been raised at children who run many miles and compete in strenuous long-distance events, and their parents who allow it. People are concerned about the adverse effects of running on children that may appear as they mature, physically and mentally. I will discuss why resistance to this movement, and discouragement of youth running is unfounded and not in good sense. My claim is that long-distance running, especially, is good for children. It builds a certain kind of character, based on individuality, respect for diversity, and dedication to hard work and good decision-making. Running is a healthy habit that can continue throughout life. Running in any capacity is ultimately far better for children than not running in the long term. Research is not yet available about people who have started running as children and the effects it has on them later in life, because youth running is newly popular. The physical and psychological effects we only speculate about and the possibility of physical ailments runner might face as they age are not worth preventing kids from running. As long as the young runners' training plans and goals are within reason and healthy, there is not enough reason to discourage children from running.

I will aim to break down my claim in a way that gives young runners and their parents a strong response to those who question their choice to be a part of the sport, and by doing so, convince those who have concerns that the benefits of running greatly outweigh any of the potential risks. First, I will examine the differences in child and adult bodies that raise concerns about youth running. Next, I will talk about why running could help children build a healthier future. Then, I will analyze the effects of our culture on youth running today. Finally, I will discuss the research done that shows that running is a positive activity for children, despite the concerns, and point out further research needed to help grow the youth running movement. As a long-time long-distance runner, that started running and competing at nine years old, I am very familiar with the world of youth running, and am a passionate advocate for it. I even wish that I had started earlier! By discussing the elements of my argument, I hope to convince others that running is a very good activity for all able-bodied children.

Differences in Child and Adult Bodies that Raise Concerns about Youth Running

Starting with a comparison of child and adult anatomy and physiology, scientists know that there are a number of differences that must be taken into account when a child starts running (Miller, Anna). In an article from the "Health" section of U.S. News and World Report, titled "How Young is Too Young to Run? : Physical activity is great for kids, but long distance running requires some special considerations.", reporter Anna Miller told the story of young runner Nicholas Sullivan and his parents, both of whom are recreational long-distance runners. Miller pulls information from The International Marathon Medical Directors Association that gives some examples of how child and adult bodies differ and what it means for their running. "For instance, children take in more heat on a hot day and lose more heat on a cold day than adults due to their greater body surface area to body mass ratio, according to the IMMDA, which discourages marathon running before age 18" (Miller, Anna). Also, "children's bones grow faster than muscle tendons during growth spurts, which can affect their flexibility and make them more prone to injury. Given their shorter strides, kids also pound the pavement more often per mile, which increases the risk of stress fractures" (Miller, Anna). Thus, it is clear that children must have a running plan tailored to their needs. Their plans must be preventative of physiological restrictions and also accommodating of injuries that may occur, would be the summary of the doctors' conclusions (Miller, Anna). And with that I can agree. In another article, constructed by a group of doctors as a reference for pediatricians who are discussing running with children and their parents, titled "Risks In Distance Running For Children", additional concerns are presented, including respiration and nutrition capabilities (Nelson). This article points out that children often do not get the right nutrients in their diets to give them sufficient energy to go real long distances, and their lungs have not been worked enough to build up a large capacity for oxygen intake (Nelson). While these physical constraints certainly should not be ignored, I feel that we have to trust children to know their limits. My reasoning is that if the child is mentally sound and running for the right reasons, they shouldn't be able to push themselves to such an extreme that they arrive at serious physical injuries or severe oxygen debt. However, it is true that because of these risks, child runners should be monitored closely while building up their miles carefully, as any adult would (Nelson). I think that the element of trust given to children seeking high miles will most likely make them feel confident and mature, and inspire future healthy decision-making.

Emotionally, children are also less developed than adults (Nelson). Returning to Anna Miller's article, Sullivan's father describes how Nicholas has loved to run with him and his wife from the age of seven. The boy was a great runner, but when it was suggested that he go competitive, he resisted, so his parents respected his decision (Miller, Anna). Since then, Nicholas has continued to love running, but has not yet done it competitively, though he is apparently quite talented (Miller, Anna). Miller states that experts say the parents did the right thing, because with too much emotional stress placed on Nicholas to perform well, he may not have retained the same love of running, which is a healthy lifelong activity. Nicholas probably could have developed long-lasting psychological issues from being pushed too hard (Miller, Anna). The article for pediatricians builds further on this idea of mental health, concerned mostly with overzealous coaching and time spent on such an individual-based sport (Nelson). This seems to me to be the second main long-term concern physicians have for child runners, besides leg health. I will argue later, when I discuss the research that has been done on running and its effects on the body, that the abundance of mental health benefits are certainly enough to reduce most stress and even social issues, even if the child starts out in an unhealthy mental state, or enters into one with increasing amounts of stress. Thus, I extend my claim that running is good for children, if the children and the adults in their lives recognize their limits, and make healthy training plans and goals. Running can be a team sport, but even not in competition, in my own experience, I have seen that runners constantly motivate other runners to overcome their obstacles and make themselves better, giving a sense of community that could make some runners become more sociable in other situations.

Why Running Could Help Children Build a Healthier Future

Healthy kids, emotionally and physically, can help build a better society. Running is a diverse sport that does not segregate or discriminate like the majority of other sports. Anyone can run at any time, no matter how experienced they are. Obviously, better gear, nutrition, and overall lifestyle helps runners excel, but as in the case of Nicholas Sullivan, not everyone must choose to run competitively (Miller, Anna). Jonathan Beverly made the point in his article, "Should Kids Run Long? : Can Too Many Miles Ruin Young Runners?" in Runner's World magazine, that Kenyans are consistently among the fastest runners in the world in a wide range of events, and they start off running very young, simply as a means of transportation. This shows that runners that don't even plan to be great can be, just as soon as they enter themselves in a race, because that's the nature of the sport (Beverly)! In the same article, Beverly talked about Alana Hadley, a very fast and competitive American girl, who trained at 50 plus miles per week as a twelve year-old. These vastly different running backgrounds are a testimony of the diversity that running supports.

With this idea of diversity in mind, I will now go into the specifics on how running can build a better society. The article in the Middle-East-based Al Jazeera news network website, "Why Running Is the Most Democratic Sport: Can the Sport Erase Gender and Socio-economic Differences, and Bridge Cultural Gaps?", explores the cultural aspects of running. It argues, "running is the most democratic sport" ("Why Running is the Most Democratic Sport"). This idea comes from the facts that you can run without being in any system that tells you how you must do it, both genders are almost equally represented, you can be an amateur, you can run anywhere, you don't have any rules or dress code, and you can even run barefoot ("Why Running is the Most Democratic Sport"). It is a good sport for most financial situations, though again, the best shoes, nutrition, and some race fees can be expensive, but there are people who can obtain all of those things and still end up slower than those who cannot ("Why Running is the Most Democratic Sport"). The author talks about how this idea means that running is sort of a safe space for all people, and it allows all kinds of people to come together and be in control of at least one aspect of their life, and typically in a healthy way ("Why Running is the Most Democratic Sport"). Therefore, I see running as a model sport that people can look to as a good example of unity in the presence of diversity. All runners are united, at the most basic level, as "comrades in sweat" ("Why Running is the Most Democratic Sport"). Running is a sport where everyone is allowed to participate, which means that for my argument, it can give children positive ideas about community and acceptance.

The Effects of Culture on Youth Running Today

So if running is good for individuals and community, why is it not as well loved as "ball sports" or other less mainstream sports, like swimming or gymnastics? The answer lies in our culture, according to Jonathan Beverly. Americans are known for their alarming obesity rate, a result of their unhealthy lifestyle choices. American children, if they did not experience it themselves, might have heard of or seen in movies the running of laps as a punishment in many non-running sports (Beverly). This instills the idea that running is painful and not meant to be fun, so many children grow up to believe that those ideas are true, so they avoid trying to exert themselves in that form (Beverly). In reality, running does not have to be painful- many recreational runners jog along just to enjoy nature or the company of fellow runners while getting some exercise! Beverly says that cultural bias is to blame for most of the apprehension surrounding youth running, when he explains that few people would criticize the miles that the young Kenyans run, like they did with Alana Hadley, because it is a part of their way of life.

Kenyans are no different than Americans. It is really not that unnatural for humans to run races even as long as a marathon, says the Slate article "Why Nearly Every Sport Except Long-Distance Running Is Fundamentally Absurd". Author David Stipp reveals key information about how humans are more adapted to long-distance running than any other animal. He tells the history of a man testing to see if a human could beat a horse in a marathon and how the man won. Human leg muscles were designed for endurance, but those of other animals were designed more so for speed, so the animals eventually slow down to a pace below decently trained humans over long distances (Stipp). Scientists contribute this to early humans being "persistence hunters" (Stipp). In fact, the origin of "runner's high", a state of euphoria reached at long distances that inspire continuation and sometimes increasing speeds, is based on this adaptation (Stipp). With the idea of adaptation through repetition, it becomes easier to think about how children that slowly build up miles are able to run distances that some adults cant because they did not start running early in life. However, I want to encourage people to remember that children do work up to long distances, just like adults. Children know their limits, perhaps even better than adults who are more apt to set fixed mileage goals rather than just play as they will with the activity, and so should be trusted to run accordingly.

Research Done on Youth Running

Although research on the long-term physiological effects of running as a child is not yet available, because of the only recent emergence of this youth running movement, studies have been done to see how youth running programs foster healthy personal and social development in children (Gabriel). In one such study, "Girls on the Run: A Quasi-Experimental Evaluation of a Developmentally Focused Youth Sport Program", scientists recorded information about elementary school-aged girls who ran in the after-school running program, called "Girls on the Run", which concludes with a 5k race (Gabriel). The scientists were attempting to reach a conclusion about how this program helped girls develop positive ideas about health and fitness (Gabriel). This program aims to teach girls about health and fitness by introducing them to an activity that they can participate in throughout their lives. The study collected demographics and results from various mental health tests, including ones for self-esteem and ideas about body size (Gabriel). The scientists believe that this program is beneficial for young girls, though they will need slightly more data to officially make that conclusion official (Gabriel). According to the data they collected, the program shows to particularly boost motivation to participate in physical activities and improve body image (Gabriel). I think that once more children and their parents see that running is a challenging, but very rewarding sport, as these girls seemed to, long-distance running will become more common, and fewer excuses will be made to avoid it. This is a well-known and popular program that many high school girl runners can volunteer to mentor with, which shows that many people are wanting their children to experience the benefits of running.

Ashley Miller, a psychotherapist for children and adults, details the psychological benefits of running in her article, "The Mental & Cognitive Benefits of Running", published in Az Central. She describes the science of the chemicals produced in the body as a response to physical exertion (Miller, Ashley). These chemicals, in addition to the obvious outward physical effects running has on the body, contribute to improved self-confidence (Miller, Ashley). Running has also been shown to improve neural connections in the brain, helping with cognition and memory (Miller, Ashley). Miller says that these effects are furthered because running gives people a break from work and stress and can be used as a sort of meditation. She also points out that increased oxygen to the brain helps people feel more energized (Miller, Ashley). With this information, I can respond to one of the main non-physical concerns for people, which is children becoming too isolated in running, because it is such an individual sport. I claim that the benefits of running on the brain must be able to help kids have healthier relationships based on their inner-contentness with themselves.

Further Research Needed to Help Grow the Youth Running Movement

All concerns about youth running clearly stem from lack of assurance that running won't cause any future harm. This combined with the cultural bias, encourage people to use it as an excuse to avoid youth running and ignore the large number of benefits that it offers (Beverly). The emotional concerns people have are just not valid, for the reasons discussed. Any emotional scars the sport could leave would most likely come from bad training and goal-setting, which can easily be prevented with the right support from adults and a good starting emotional state. However, this is not just in running, it is characteristic of any youth sport that the children must receive healthy motivation and guidance. The physical concerns are at least validated by doctors (Nelson), though no research is available to say what children who begin running early in life will endure later, due to the youth of the child running movement itself. From what we do know about health and fitness, though, I think we can assume that any physical malfunction that appears while aging, as a result of many years of running, will not be nearly as detrimental as struggling with weight or mental health issues that could be managed through running.

Most of the reliable literature on youth running reaffirms that children are at less risk for future health problems if they run than if they don't. Gretchen Reynolds, in her article for the New York Times "Well" section, "Should Children Run Marathons?", talks about what the statistics of injuries acquired in running sports mean to doctors, and how many people tend to exaggerate the findings. In one instance, she finds the reason so many younger children report injuries while running is because they are clumsy and they tend to trip (Reynolds). She cites well-respected doctors that have seen many youth runners (Reynolds). She comes to the same conclusion as the other experts, by analyzing the research available, that to our knowledge there is no proven physiological reason that should prevent children from running long distances similar to most adults, if they can respect their bodies' limits (Reynolds). Therefore, what we need now are statistics about the children in this movement as they age. This will take time, but it will stop the excuses to keep children from running. When the time comes when there is enough data to say that the risks are not nearly as great as the sum of what is gained through starting to run as a child, from what I can tell, cultural bias will be the only thing standing against youth running.

Young runners and their parents in favor of running are getting tired of hearing that "running ruins your legs" and "it is not a real sport, because there's no teamwork", especially coming out of the mouths of unhealthy people. These claims are not valid, because they are unsupported and make little sense upon research and knowledge of the sport and its culture. I feel that people really put down youth running, because they are afraid of its growing popularity (Beverly). It is easy to be lazy, and even easier when the greater population is lazy. Because running is a diverse, easily accessible, and enjoyable sport, based on its effects on the body and mind, it will become very popular as soon as enough people get out of their comfort zone to try it. Change is an uncomfortable thing, but people won't want to be a part of an unhealthy minority, so it is necessary that people realize the facts and at the very least support their children if they are at all interested in running, but ideally encourage them. The future generations need to be healthier than the previous generations, but this will not be possible if we discourage such a healthy sport.

Running is a lifetime sport, unlike many others that are not as similarly criticized. You can always run. Getting a "ball sport" team together on a regular basis with the proper number of players gets more difficult the older you get. Running is good for self and community. Children should not be discouraged from running because we do not know all of the facts. In this age of medicine, if running permanently marred anyone, I know that we could be sure it would be common knowledge and this movement would not be happening. The rumors about not being able to walk later and being self-absorbed and anti-social would not need to exist. Long-distance running, until beyond shadow of a doubt, has not been proven to cause harm to the mind and body. It appears to be, and holds up in science as the supremely healthy activity that children deserve and should attempt in some capacity.

