Has your kid done a 5K?

[CallingAllAngels]

My son is 7. We go on 2-4 mile hikes pretty regularly, and he's always at the front of the pack. He is an active kid. He is running a 5K for the first time next Saturday. It's a very low-key run/walk, so I know he will be fine if we have to walk most of it. We aren't training for it.

My 4 (almost 5) year old DD would not do as well. She usually turns into a pumpkin after about 2 miles and then gets very whiney and wants to be carried. She's not invited to the 5K.

I think your kids will probably do great.

[juliabug]

My 8 year old niece and her older cousins ran a Turkey Trot 5k with me last year. They all started too fast and couldn't quite run the entire race, but even adults do that. They play soccer so I don't
think they trained specifically for the race.

Sounds like they are ready! You might do something like C25k if they wanted to train to run the whole thing. Ditto finding a small, local race.

[shell24]

Yes, my DD just ran a race with me. She turned 7 yesterday. She did great, and had a lot of fun!

[InBetweenDays]

My 8 and newly 6 year old have run two 5Ks. We trained a bit - went for a handful of 2-3 mile runs with some walking in there. For us the biggest part of training was pacing themselves in the beginning. They both loved it (my 8 year old came in first for the 8-11 year old age group for the 2nd race!).

[froggy76]

I'm part of a local running group and there is a 6 year old who runs a sub-30 5k. She has definitely trained to build up to that speed, but it still amazes me. At 7 and 8, they could definitely do it, but I would make sure they train and set low expectations at first (just plan to finish the race).

[jinkies]

It's definitely possible for them to run it, as others have noted.

A lot of races have kid-friendly 1-mile fun runs too, though. If they've never done a race before maybe start them with a 1-mile and see how it goes?

I say this only because my 7 year old BEGGED to run his school's 5K with me, then burnt himself out keeping up with his friends in the first mile and I had to drag him, walking and complaining, through the rest. I regret not doing more to ensure that his first race experience was fun.

[skwcm80]

DD completed her 1st 5k when she was 5. She would sprint to a certain point, then walk for a while. She's been asking to do a 5k, but she said she wants to train, so we'll work on that this summer.

[scorpio72]

I think 7 and 8 is a great age.  Both of my girls did Girls on the Run in 3rd grade, so 9-10, which ends in running a 5K. 

You may want to take them out on some "training" runs to get them used to the distance.  

When we ran the races I left it up to them when they wanted to run vs. walk.  My younger one ran a majority of the race, while the older one ended up walking a lot of it, which was fine.  Just make sure to let them lead during the race.  I'd pick a low key family friendly race too.  

[andrealynn]

DD has done 3 5ks and a bunch of kids races. She also has done the healthy kids running series. She's 6.

She asked me to do a 10k recently but I said no.