Right age to introduce child to running....????

I believe and I have seen that the running small distances can start form the age as less as 8. Here I am talking about training, not just accompanying adults for fun.

However, I believe one should think of long distances like 10k only after the age of 14. This is the time when a child is physically and mentally strong enough to take on the strain and the stress.

According to me kids should be introduced to team sports like football first. This way they will build stamina as well as learn to play in team and learn from others. Running is an individual sport which can make a child feel lonely and bored, and he may lose interest soon.

I think after they are comfortable with participating in an individual sport, introduce them to shorter form of running like 400m and 800m. Once they are in high school, encourage them to participate in 5k and 10k races.

@Mike
Good point!

Himanshu & Mike.....yes to an extent it makes sense....thank you for your sharing and input given...is there any other way to look at it....pls do share....!!!

Himanshu and Mike...
When this world has seen olympic Gold Medal winner Nadia at age 11 in Gymnastics....In Austrelia a child in put into swimming pool by the time she/he turns 3 years....Gary Kasparov/Vishwanathan Anand introduced to Chess when they turned 4....why should nt we consider introducing someone bit earlier to the world of running....!!!

At my end, I have introduced them at about 10 and 12, which is their current ages. They run around the colony two rounds, twice a day on the week ends in Bangalore. Its a pretty big place. More importantly the kids need to be convinced of what they are doing and how would it benefit them.

Vineesh,
Thank u for your sharing....i have couple observation/points....are they boys or girls....when u say they run pretty big rounds, do u hv any idea about the distance in kms....is it they need to be convinced or they need to enjoy/ hv fun to keep it going....when you say benefit what do u mean by that....???

Hi,
Do u observe one thing....anything in life either good or bad it is nothing and a HABIT formation....and anything we start for the first time intially we found it difficult and often we didnt like it....dnt u agree we didnt give up so easily....we went on and on....!!!

I think the right age can be somewhere between 6-8 years. Running stimulates brain development which the child naturally learns after he masteries over his walk. If the child is ready, he/she ill automatically ask for it. Of course keep in mind that the running shouldn't get too stressful for him.