Athletics/running - how to start?

[theQuibbler]

DS' PE teacher said that he was a very good and naturally talented runner but just left it at that! We asked him what we should do next but he's pretty busy man and hasn't really been able to give us a steer.

I am not sporty at all, and am somewhat at a loss as to how to research it or know what I'm looking for. I'm assuming some sort of athletics club would be best? We live in central London.

DS is 6 and loves to run against his mates :)

Any info or links to what I should look for would be really welcome.

TIA.

Only just seen this. My DD loves to run, she started out just running around the streets locally. We bought her some good trainers very quickly, anything else is optional but proper support for the feet is vital. At 6 he'll always need someone with him, but can you accompany him on safe paths by bike? Make it fun, though. Eg can you run to that tree? Can you run while I count to 50 then hop for a bit?

Do you know about Parkrun? Have a look on google to see if there's one near you. I'm sure there is if you're in London. A fantastic idea - 5km every Saturday morning, not competitive but very supportive. Ours has lots of children running. The parents go, but often another adult runner will go with the children once they know them. Also try your local running clubs, they will have lots of advice.

It's a long time before he can run in races, but maybe you could take him to watch some and see if he's inspired. Lots of events eg 10ks and half marathons have family fun runs, so he can start collecting medals! Usually they get one just for entering, not for winning. DD has a whole row of them by now.

Good luck - our over-energetic toddler is now old enough to enter her first half marathon, I know I'll have tears in my eyes when she comes over the finish line.

At 6 there is nothing much you can do formally. Clubs take them at a later age, we are a family of long distance runners (just for fun) and my 5 year old runs super fast. The main thing is to keep him active, be it on his bike, doing other sports etc.

Let him run whenever there is an opportunity In the park ask him to go run and pick his ball. Walking down to the shops, you can ask him to run to the end of the road and when he reaches the end give me good praise then ask him to run back to mummy again and hive him a hug and carry him when he get's back to you.

It's a shame athletics is introduced way later when children have discovered football, swimming and other things and just think running is boring.

Club Finder

It's worth finding and contacting a club now, OP. It varies from club to club, but I handle membership for a small-town club which takes children from 8, and our waiting list is long. Our Junior membership currently stands at 300, entirely coached and organised by volunteers.

This isn't the situation in all clubs and there isn't thought to have been that much of an Olympic boost in athletics, but it's worth checking out your local situation. Some clubs take children from 7, but it's not considered to be particularly beneficial to have kids pounding the track at an early age, though I think Munashe's point about competing with other sports is valid.