How long does your 5/6 year old take to run 1km?

[BusWankers]

DD is 5 (6 in December), and has been trying to run 1km. She's got good core strength and loves swimming and cycling and gymnastics, does ballet, scooting, playground, climbing trees all good stuff.... But we realised that whilst she runs around the playgrounds etc it's all in short bursts and she isn't really doing prolonged aerobic exercise.

Anyway she wants to be able to run all the way to her Nana's which is just over a km away. We've been out a few times practising and running with bits of walking.
Her fastest time so far is 8:52 - she's yet to manage to run all the way, but she's only started this last week and has chosen to 4 runs so far. I've been encouraging her to run a bit further,and prompting her to run again after a short walking break (10-20m or so). She can currently do it with 3 walking breaks.

What kind of time do your kids do it in?

I don't want to push he too fast but think 1km is probably something she should really already be able to do (and I think she will be the end of October easily)

Then, Parkrun aside, how have schools been getting away with cross country as a sport/activity for donkeys years if it's that damaging.

Can only go by my own experience but I didn’t do cross country until I was in Yr8.

I was a cross-country runner in primary school 40 years ago, from about 8 years old.

From English Athletics

Year 3 Age 7-8 recommended maximum distance is 1200m
Year 4 Age 8-9 it's 1600m

Cross country is an activity for secondary school not primary.

Get her going to junior park run if she’s keen on running. My just turned 4yo did his first one in 16mins (it’s 2k). It’s lots of fun for the kids and gets them in the habit of running for fun.

Have you been to a junior parkrun? They all run basically all the way round. Why do you think it’s bad for kids to run?

Biology says it is.

That’s not fast enough. By the time mine were 5 they could run 5k in 20 mins.

As a qualified UK Athletics coach, specialising in ‘Children in Athletics’ it is not recommended for a child to be running on hard/concrete surfaces as young bones, muscles etc are not ready for the damage caused by the impact. Running on grass and softer surfaces with ‘give’ are fine.
Even at athletics clubs the majority of training with under 9’s should be on grass and track running introduced in short sessions.

And yet junior park run is a huge initiative and there is no chorus of outrage for paediatric doctors about it, which seems odd doesn’t it? If it’s accepted ‘biology’ that it’s terrible for kids to run (or walk as they wish) 2km I’m genuinely surprised that I’ve never heard anyone express a concern about it.

@SpiritAdder My school would beg to differ!

If you have a quick Google @SpiritAdder you'll very quickly see that cross country at primary level is in all areas, so not sure why you think it's just secondary.

Poor child

Pushy parent alert. She is 6 for god sake.

https://www.runnersworld.com/uk/health/a39925104/how-far-should-children-run/

A sensible overview.

2 minutes 10 seconds