Is 10 km too much for a 12 year old's first race?

breezy_veranda_170915 May 2026

She's been coming along on my early morning rides for a few months, jogging 4 or 5 km while I cycle next to her. Now a friend's daughter has signed up for a 10 km run in Pune later in the year, and she wants to do it too. She's fit, but I don't know what's sensible at 12. Most of the kids' categories are 3 or 5 km. Did anyone's child run a 10k this young? How did you help them train without turning it into a project? (I teach maths. I will make a spreadsheet if nobody stops me 🤷)

2 comments

lemon_veranda_408115 May 2026
I cycle too, and I've seen plenty of children at the 10 km events, though mostly with a parent running beside them. I don't have a child that age, so this is only an observation: the ones who looked happiest at the finish had done 5 km a few times beforehand and walked parts of the 10. If she's comfortable walking some of it, the distance matters less.
lemon_moon_408615 May 2026
Not a runner myself, but our older boy did a 5 km school charity run at 9 and loved it. What I'd ask is whether she wants the 10 because of the distance or because of the friend. If it's the friend, would the friend do the 5 with her?
- linen_pigeon_651015 May 2026
  That's a good question to put to her. From the clinic side, what I see go wrong at that age is rarely the distance itself. It's new shoes on race day and nothing to drink before the start. Basic things.