Abstract
There are few data on youth marathon runners and the most commonly asked questions of “can children run marathons?” and “what are the health consequences?” remain unanswered. Expert opinion is split with regard to running this distance at a young age. There have been many thousands of finishers <18 years old at the Los Angeles Marathon in an organised programme for youth running and nearly 300 finishers in at the Twin Cities Marathon. The youngest child in these data sets was 7 years old. There has not been any significant medical injury at these events. Children who choose of their own accord to participate in marathon training should be allowed to do so as long as their social, academic, psychological and physiological development is not disrupted. Follow-up studies of these young runners would help evaluate the long-term health consequences of long distance running and shape future recommendations.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Rowland TW. Should children be allowed to run marathons? A virtual roundtable. Pediatr Exerc Sci 2006; 18 (1): 1–10
Rice SG, Wanieski S. Children and marathoning: how young is too young? Clin J Sport Med 2003; 13 (6): 369–73
Demorest RA, Landry GL. Prevention ofpediatric sports injury. Curr Sports Mad Rep 2003; 2 (6): 33743
Caine D, DiFiori I, Naffulli N. Physeal injuries in children’s and youth sports: reasons for concern? Br J Sports Med 2006; 40: 749–60
Rice SG. Development of an injury surveillance system: results from a longitudinal study of high school athletes. In: Ashare AB, editor. Safety in ice hockey. 3rd vol., STP 1341. West Conshohocken (PA): American Society for Testing and Materials, 2000: 3–18
American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Sports Medicine. Risks in distance running for children. Pediatrics 1990; 86 (5): 799–800
Roberts WO. Children and running: at what distance safe? Clin J Sport Med 2005; 15 (2): 109–10
Acknowledgements
The author has indicated that he has no affiliation or financial interest in any organisation(s) that may have a direct interest in the subject matter of this article.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Roberts, W.O. Can Children and Adolescents Run Marathons?. Sports Med 37, 299–301 (2007). https://doi.org/10.2165/00007256-200737040-00007
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2165/00007256-200737040-00007