Things You Should Let Your 6 Year Old Do
One of them is DEFINITELY NOT running a marathon
The Flying Pig Marathon recently let a 6-year-old enter their marathon. The ensuing backlash from the community at large is, very understandably, warranted and justified.
Here’s the article to the story in case you didn’t see it.
My wife and I have an almost 6-year-old. Even with her growing attitude resembling a sometimes 15-year-old, there’s no f’ing way running a marathon would cross our minds for her to do.
If this story was about a family who let their 6 year old run a 5k, I would say, “woah, okay, that seems a little bit much”. So to think that they ran 8 times that distance is unfathomable.
I’m disappointed in this family, for sure, but I’m equally as sad for the commentators and their “followers” for saying “congrats on the medal for your 6 year old”. Have we come to this? A 6 year old does not need a marathon medal for any kind of validation.
Things you CAN let your 6-year-old do:
Ride their bike (with training wheels) around the block
Run a 1/4 mile for their Healthy Kids race
Hike at Pennypacker (snacks and breaks included) for a total of 1 hour
I just can’t fathom having my daughter run a marathon at her age. The number of things that are wrong with this far outway any kind of reward or positive experience they might gain.
Instead of such a grueling endeavor (for you or your kids), I suggest thinking about the long-term implications of what this will do to your kid
Friday’s Action Plan:
Don’t let what you missed out on as a child sway what you do to your kids.
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Marc is a middle school teacher and coach but also works with distance runners online. I help distance runners around the globe by providing support, writing customized training plans, and designing workouts to help them reach their racing goals. I write for my blog every Wednesday morning and newsletter every Friday morning.