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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

6 year old running 2k with no adult

173 replies

user2319978 · 07/08/2017 21:14

Posting here for traffic :)

My just turned 6 year old loves running. He regularly attends junior parkrun events. The courses are 2k. Recently we've not been in a position to run with him and I've felt really uneasy allowing him to run the 2k on his own. He is out of my sight for about 6 minutes while he completes lap one, then another 6 minutes to complete lap 2.

I am buying him a GPS watch so I can track him, and he can SOS me if needed. I have lots of friends with 5 year olds who run the races with no parents.

What are people's thoughts on the junior park run events? (if you don't know what they are - they are weekly organised runs for 4 to 14 year olds - 2k distance, marshalls round the course. In our local event there are about 150 children running each week)

Am I being unreasonable to worry like hell for the whole 6miutes he's out of my sight? (that someone will kidnapp him, he'll get whisked away by a paedophile, he'll fall and no-one will help him .... etc ....) Is the GPS phone (with SOS and I can listen to him as he runs) enough? would you let your 5 or 6 year old run in these events with a GPS watch?

thanks for your tips!

OP posts:

SomewhatIdiosyncratic · 08/08/2017 10:14

I started taking DS1 sporadically when he was 4 and he ran/ walked with me while I had the 2 yo in the pram/ carrier. We had a lull over the winter, and on our return in the spring when he was 5, he sprinted off and ran the whole thing leaving me for dust with my strained calves and a 3 yo on my back. Since then he's run it at his own pace.

Now he's 6, he runs off ahead while I run with the 4 yo. Last time he was 8 minutes ahead of us as DS2 was on a go slow. We have a two lap course and I saw him finish when we were barely into the second lap, and he laid on the grass around the other finishers waiting for us to come in.

Once, he fell over and waited at the side for me to catch up with him, then wiped his tears and dashed off to pass out DS2

If a 5-6 year old is sufficiently interested and determined to run the course, there is no issue with letting them run jnr parkrun at their own pace. My 4 year old definitely isn't ready yet as last time I had to tell him to get back on course and put the giant stick down, and he inadvertently tried to overshoot the marshall on a bend- he was a minute behind the next runner.

Goldenbear · 08/08/2017 10:21

'If you have a child who is likely to try to wander off or hide in a bush or something then it's indicative of a child that doesn't want to compete, in which case they shouldn't do it at all.'

Personally, I don't think this is the case at all. My DC are both very fast runners, they are both very fit and sporty and competitive mostly because they walk/run to school and back every day, which is 4 miles in total and they play football and go to the park regularly after school, that's quite apart from the football my Ds plays every lunch time. My DD at 5 received a certificate for fastest runner out of the whole of reception on sports day- not on the day but for the star of the week certificate. They are consequently both hugely competitive. Equally, my nephew got spotted and played for the under 10's team for a big London football club. He was definitely prone to pursuing his distractions though as he was a very confident child that wasn't scared by anything. Incidentally, my son and Dn were in a junior run at 5 where we couldn't see them for a period of time so my Dh and brother ran with them. However, that was organised by a running club and was more a country setting than city park. IME it is these type of children that are very confident to go on an adventure, to pursue distractions as they are the more fearless ones. They're not as cautious as their nervous peers. I'm sure the OP's child will be fine but only they know the personality of their child.

rightsofwomen · 08/08/2017 12:17

Hmmmm, golden, surely a child who gets distracted is also indicative of a child that doesn't want to compete. We're not talking about toddlers who may have forgotten what their meant to be doing, but older children who have chosen to run.

rightsofwomen · 08/08/2017 12:18

*they're meant....

OwnLittleIsland · 08/08/2017 12:39

I've signed my child up - it does say that although some want to compete the emphasis is on fun !

Betsyboo87 · 08/08/2017 14:14

BertrandRussell clearly we do or the op wouldn't have asked and there wouldn't have been such a long thread....

BertrandRussell · 08/08/2017 15:28

We don't. Sadly, we have been told we do and we believe the hype. The world hasn't changed- we have.

Emmie412 · 08/08/2017 16:14

I signed up my 7-year-old for a sports camp, 3 hours a day, five days a week. I enquired in advance whether parents had to stay and they said no, most parents dropped off their children.

Fast forward to the first day and my child is brought home by a mum, who had a kid in the same camp but who is COMPLETELY UNKNOWN to us and my child. My child had gotten upset and the coach had asked her to sit on the side. The other parents who had been present had been trying to talk to her, which in turn made her more upset. The mum in question had then announced to the coach that she was taking my child home to which the coach had simply said fine. At no point did anyone ring us although contact details were provided during booking process.

I raised my concerns directly with the coach whose only (morose) response was to say there was no refund and that he didn't 'send her' home. It is obvious that he had a duty of care so I escalated this to the manager who swiftly responded by confirming that the coach had been reprimanded, refund had already been processed and that they would instantly review their safe-guarding processes and policies.

Luckily my child was fine and while I hope this coach gets the sack, am still left wondering what sort of mum thinks it is ok to take an unknown child without the permission of the parents, without knowing where she lived and without knowing whether parents would be home? (My child had to guide her through the park to our home address). Although she was upset, she was not lost and the coach had our phone number (which he clearly failed to use).

The whole incident has left me full of unease. We are very lucky that nothing happened but this has truly put me off any sort of holiday camps.

FlakeBook · 08/08/2017 16:16

I'd have no issue at all with it.

PinguForPresident · 08/08/2017 16:29

It's parkrun, it's extremely well organised. My husband marshalls at ours and there's not one part of the course where the kids can't be seen by a marshall. They're all told to watch out for kids leaving the path.

My daughter started running at age 7. She runs solo 90% of the time, my husband runs with her if she's trying to up her pace to get a PB. She prefers running alone, TBH. She's 8 now and I've just started letting her go through the finish procedures along - get the token, queue up, scan your barcode - and jog back to the playpark where I'm waiting with her little brother.

I'm very risk averse, but parkrun is super safe.

Sickofthinkingofnewnames · 08/08/2017 16:55

Jesus and we wonder why children are getting obese.parkrun is awesome let the children run.I'm particularly astonished by the People who won't let their eleven year olds out of sight.

CappuccinoSprinkles · 08/08/2017 17:01

My 6 year old does this. I never even considered not letting her. She is surrounded by people and the tail runners will pick her up if required. I sometimes Marshall or just pick a spot to watch her from. She loves doing it and she is not the only young child who runs alone. It's part of the point of junior parkrun surely?

MrsWombat · 08/08/2017 17:40

We are junior Park Run regulars and yes i would let a 6 year old run by themselves. As others have said they are in sight of a marshal at all times as well as the older children (up to 14) and other parents who are running. Plus the tail runner.

Could you pick a different run? Our one is a smaller circuit so it's 3 laps and the out of sight area from the start is a lot smaller.

YellowMeeple · 08/08/2017 17:47

I usually marshall at junior Parkin while my two aged 8 & 6 run- so I obviously can't see them and they then have to wait for me when they're done. I ran with my youngest until he was reliably able to complete 2k so oldest one was alone right from the beginning. As marshalls we are briefed to look out for fallers, wanders, dogs and anything else not quite right and we are positioned every 60m or so. I've never worried at all.

LetsSplashMummy · 08/08/2017 18:00

We do junior parkrun with a slightly younger child than yours and if she had to do a bit on her own, I'd be fine with it. The route is the same each week, so they know it, and they can't get out the park. There are so many accompanying parents who would step in if they stumbled and loads of marshals. I can hardly think of a situation more difficult to snatch a child!

MsHarry · 08/08/2017 18:56

Being watchful doesn't make kids obese! Running is great, it's running unsupervised by a parent or trusted adult that is in question.

MsHarry · 08/08/2017 18:59

It's not all about snatching anyway. Maybe I've just had to hear too many bad things having worked in childcare/ education a long time. It'll probably be fine.

backwardpossom · 08/08/2017 19:03

Junior parkrun has lots of marshals. I'd let him.

Goldenbear · 08/08/2017 19:42

Obesity problem with children will not be solved by an adhoc Park run here and there. I was one of the posters that said I'd have concerns but don't have any problems with obesity with my two seen as they walk/run 4 miles in total to school and back that's quite apart from the time spent at the park after school and their aptitude for sports or physical play like cartwheels, handstands - All of the time. My two are both very slim, one is skinny and can eat what he wants. I really have no clue what the correlation is between obesity and caring about the safety of your child. IME it's a state of mind - to be enquiring and adventurous and that's often something that is encouraged by parents. I don't think all the obese children are a result of the parents obsession with the child's welfare - quite the opposite in my experience!

Goldenbear · 08/08/2017 19:42

Parents' not parents.

StrawberrySquash · 08/08/2017 20:20

My friend's nearly 5 year old ran on her own the other week because her mum was being run director. I would imagine there will be marshalls who can see the whole course and a tail runner to pick up any stragglers.

early30smum · 08/08/2017 20:34

I think it's totally fine.

AuntieStella · 09/08/2017 10:04

Here's some info on Junior Parkrun safeguarding policy

www.parkrun.org.uk/news/2016/07/27/keeping-it-safe-and-simple/

The whole course must be visible to marshalls, and the usual volunteer to participant ratio is 1:5. Those in key positions are DBS checked, most of the rest are participants' parents.

Parkrun employs a safeguarding officer, so if you are concerned, you could contact her:

www.parkrun.org.uk/aboutus/

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