re: Good mile time for a kid

It's a good starting time for sure. At the Jr High level they will run 1-2 miles for most cross country races and anything under a 7:30/pace would likely put him as one of the better runners on his team.

To give you a gauge I ran a 5 minute mile in HS. At age 11-12 I was running a 7:30 mile. The top runners in my junior high were running closer to 5. They were a grade above me and was probably 14. As others have stated 7:30 is a very good time for a 9 year old. Keep him active and if he enjoys running keep him in the sport.

As in any sport you are going to see your biggest jump around puberty. Till then keep it fun.

Your six year old was not running sub 7 minute miles

God damn you’re stupid

Good 5th graders go under 6 with basically no training. 7:29 isn't that good. I guess not horrible though.

That's not true at all. There are very few 5th graders in the country sniffing that kind of time. 7 29 is good, definitely well above average but short of elite

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3 minutes 50 seconds

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Again, Ive asked before, when did this start and why is this horribly lame reference still around?

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I would not try to overthink what your 9 year old is doing. As he grows he should naturally get more athletic as long as he's participating in sports/being active. He has energy now and should still have it leading into his college years. He will get bigger (weight and height) so he will have to carry more with him as he runs. His form may change. It may benefit him. All these changes will impact him down the road.

If anything, just encourage him to do things that he likes. I didn't really like track that much when I was growing up. I really just wanted to beat people and happened to be fairly decent at it further into my HS years. Ended up walking on in college and enjoyed competition.

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That's not true at all. There are very few 5th graders in the country sniffing that kind of time. 7 29 is good, definitely well above average but short of elite

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Very few 5th graders in the country sniffing sub 6? CSAL in Baton Rouge puts them up all the time.

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I'd advise against training until 6th grade(mostly easy running at that). Then track in 7th. Keep him out of Summer track. That's retarded for distance kids, and is a big reason Louisiana distance runners suck as a whole. Keep it fun. Maybe a fun run 1/2 mile or mile nowadays. Let him play sports, keep him active. No real hard training until 7th grade, with easy running 5th 6th grades if he likes it. My qualifications... Former D1 scholarship track and cc background.

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Sage advice.

Keep running fun for now. See how his body grows and start pushing hard middle school or early hs. I would push him to become more mentally prepared for distance than physically. No matter how good physically he becomes, he will mentally have to push thru what my coaches called the “stall” every distances runner faces.