CHILDREN AND RUNNING

THE FUTURE IS RIGHT NOW

Tara Gruber

My first contact with Tara came at the Shamrock Scamper in Inverness, FL, on March 18, 2000. The runners were on the starting line and I was giving last minute instructions for the faster runners to get up front. I noticed the diminutive 12-year-old Tara on the front line in the midst of five or six very fit and fast law enforcement officers. The fleeting thought went through my mind, "Why is she up here, doesn't she hear what I am saying"? I moved on and started the race and promptly forgot her. Moving to a spectator viewing area at about the 1.8- mile mark, I was astounded to see her in 7th place looking relaxed and cruising. She eventually finished 10th overall, capturing the women's title in 20.31, besting the 2nd place woman by 2.16.

Subsequent to Shamrock 2000, Tara has had a remarkable year in cross-country, track and field and road racing. She ran middle school track as a 7th grader, setting school and district records in the mile at 5.42. She ran Texas Amateur Federation summer track, winning the 2-mile run at state and finishing second in the 1 mile at 5.38, .03 behind the winner. She qualified for Nationals in Hershey, PA, where she finished 6th competing against 14-year-old girls. Her middle school does not have a program for cross country and this year as an 8th grader, the local high school coach generously allowed her to run with the JV squad. She ran in one meet finishing first. Between the cross country season and track in the spring, Tara ran in 2 major road races, the Dallas Race for the Cure and the Fort Worth Cowtown 5K, and numerous smaller races. She finished in 12th place in the Dallas race in 19.35. In the Cowtown 5K with 7,421 total runners, she finished 37th overall and placed 3rd among all women behind 16 and 17-year-old girls from the Ardmore, OK State Cross Country Champions.

This year as an 8th grader, she set the middle school district 800-meter record of 2.32 and in 20 mph wind, lowered the 1600 record to 5.32. This finishes her middle school running and she will be running in high school next year. In this year's Shamrock Scamper, Tara arrived a week early, ran in the Friendship Trail 5K in Tampa finishing 2nd in 19.44. She announced herself as fit and focused on defending her title from 2000. She did exactly that in a torrid contest with local favorite Jennifer Schmidt, with the intense competition pushing her to a new PR of 18.44. Tara lives with her parents, David and Staci Gruber, and a younger sister in Flower Mound, Texas, and a suburb of Dallas. She came to running as a dropout from competitive dancing and gymnastics. She began dancing at age 3 and began competing at age 5. The pressure in competitive dancing was so intense she switched to gymnastics at age 6. She spent 1 ½ hours a day, 5 days a week at gym and by the time she quit in the 6th grade, she was spending 21 hours a week in the gym. She loved gymnastics, but unfortunately her scores were not high enough to make her a consistent winner.

She ran her first race at age 5, won, and decided she liked it. She joined a summer track club at 8 and has made it to state finals ever since. Texas has an active summer running program under the auspices of the Texas Amateur Federation. During the years until her 6th grade year, Tara only trained during the summer. At this she began moderate year round training. She also began to compete in 5K races in earnest.

If all this sounds like Tara is a narrow, focused young girl that is only partially correct. While she is focused on training and competitive running, in other respects she is a typical 13-year-old girl with a mischievous personality. With a pixie like smile after she had won this year's Shamrock, she asked me what happened to all the policemen who ran with her last year and I facetiously replied, "Could they have been intimidated"?

Paul and Chris Tolson

Paul (8) and Chris (6) are the sons of Keith and Ellen Tolson of Gainesville, FL. The Tolsons are part of an extended running family, with Ellen's brother and sister and their children all running. A recent race in Pensacola had 13 cousins running. Paul and Chris started running in March 2000, participating with their mother, Ellen, who was returning to the sport after not running since high school. Paul (7) and Chris (5) initially ran in a couple of fun runs but decided they wanted to run in the 5K races because one of Paul's classmates, Caleb Kamm, was running and his name was in the posted results while fun run results were never posted.

The boys' first race was the Tri-distance Run in Gainesville in April 2000. Both parents knew the course well and Keith was out on the course on a bike for assistance if needed. Both boys started up front with friend Caleb and had to go out quite fast to avoid being trampled. At about ½ mile Ellen caught up with Chris who could not keep up and was frightened by the sea of churning legs. He was off to the side crying. She took his hand, reassured him and ran with him to the first water stop where he got a drink, regained his confidence, and the crowd thinned out. He then moved out on his own at a pace comfortable to him. Ellen was not able to match his pace but did manage to keep him in sight. Paul went out at a fast pace with Caleb and kept up for about a mile and then dropped back. He continued running hard for 2 miles before the full effects of trying to run at someone else's pace caught up with him and he had to alternate walking and running for the remainder. He finished pale and nauseated and both parents thought that would be the end of their running. However, the wonderful resilience of youth kicked in and both boys were soon running and playing with the other children. Both boys are continuing to run with a road race somewhere almost every weekend. To say they enjoy running would be an understatement. They love running and have recently been joined by four-year-old sister, Anne. I had the pleasure of observing and visiting with this running family Saturday at Dunnellon's Blue Run. Anne ran along with her mother, both finishing the 5K in 48.56. The time certainly will not turn any heads, but the joy on Anne's face at being allowed to participate did catch my attention.

Paul and Chris have completed 29 road races, most of them 5K's, with one 4 miler and a 15K. Their times are consistently under 23 minutes for the 5K, with Paul's PR at 22.21 and Chris's PR at 22.56. They run for the joy of running; but make no mistake about it, they are competitive. They both watch the clock and can tell you instantly their PR's. In 2000, Chris had the fastest time in the state for six year olds.

Inevitably, when people confront the subject of running children, they bring strong feelings and opinions, largely not supported by any real studies. There seems to be no middle ground of opinion. Most people believe strongly that it good for them or that it is extremely damaging and defend their position with passion. A minority of those believing it is harmful thinks the children are being pushed by over zealous parents who are living a fantasy vicariously through their children. The vast majority of those opposed come down on the side of it's being physically harmful, especially as it relates to epiphyseal growth plate injuries.

I will put to rest the first of these objections as it relates to the parents of the runners being recognized in this article. I know the parents of these runners and they are among the most supportive parents I know, where the children are concerned.
Keith and Ellen Tolson are educated professional people. Keith is a toxicologist and Ellen a dietician. Before they allowed their children to run they researched the subject and checked with their pediatrician, who thought it was wonderful that they wanted to run.
David and Staci Gruber, Tara's parents, recognize that Tara has a competitive streak in her that is greater than most 13-year-old girls. However, Staci finds it very amusing that people think anyone could force Tara to do something she doesn't want to do. In fact, Tara is a disciplined trainer working on all phases of the competitive training grind--the kind of thing you do because you want to, not because someone else wants you to.

I have been more than a casual observer of the running scene for 35 years, reading extensively on the subject of youth running, and have found no empirical evidence to support the idea that running creates any worse problems for young runners than other sports in which they engage. There are cases of delayed menarche in young female distance runners. However, the etiology and relevance to health have not been established. Menarche normally occurs several months after reduction or cessation of training.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that if children enjoy running and are a symptomatic, there is no reason to preclude them from participating in the activity. A complete review may be made of their paper, " Risks in Distance Running for Children (RE9192)," at http://www.aap.org/policy/03326.html
As for the dreaded specter of "burnout", so be it. If they grow tired of running, just as they are destined to do with many activities in their lives, is it not enough that they ran, enjoyed it and made themselves aerobically fit at a most important period in their life?

I continue to hear coaches and fans refer to these young runners as future greats. It seems everywhere I look; young runners are setting new age group records. Freshman Ryan Deak, of Maclay High School in Tallahassee, recently was named National Runner of the Week by fastPREPS.com, a respected national running web page. Consider this: At the NIC, Ryan ran a 9:29 2-mile race, setting a new national freshman record. It was the first indoor sub-9:30 ever run by a freshman. He followed that with a 4th place finish in the open 1600 at Florida Relays in Gainesville on March 31, against the best runners in the state. Maybe the future is already here with these runners.

Colon Joiner
Founder
Citrus Road Runners

This article originally ran in Florida Running & Triathlon magazine and in the Chronicle as a 3 part series (2001)