14 year old wants to run a 10K in December. She has never run more than the school track

sage_drum_612116 Aug 2026

Her friend's mother is a runner and wants to sign both girls up for a 10K in December. My daughter is thrilled and has downloaded three apps already. Not complaining, I'm happy she wants to do something outdoors. But she has never done more than a couple of rounds of the school track, and our mornings already start at 6 because of my school timings. Is four months enough to go from nothing to 10K at her age without hurting herself? Do kids this age need a coach, or is a beginner plan from an app fine? Narsingi has no running track that I know of, so it would be roads and colony lanes, haha.

1 comment

violet_pomelo_3617 Aug 2026
My son's school in the hills has them running cross-country from class 6, so I have seen how they build it up: run-walk for the first month, three days a week, never two days in a row. By the end of term the boys who started from nothing were doing 8 km. Four months is plenty if she doesn't try the full distance in the first fortnight. Do get her shoes properly fitted. That is where the injuries came from in his batch.
- violet_kettle_437817 Aug 2026
  The shoes point is so true. My daughter got shin pain within two weeks of running in her school canvas shoes and dropped the whole idea. Wish we'd known. She keeps saying she'll start again 'after exams'...