Growth of youth running in road running events, schools and training programs
The youth component of the sport is healthy and parallels
growth and trends of the adult running population in the U.S. In the eighties
and nineties, many U.S. road races added kids runs that gave participants
a medal, t-shirt and opportunity to feel part of the race day celebration.
In those early years, smaller or younger kids were likely to get run over
at the start, and at the finish there were often more tears than smiles.
To make the events more enjoyable, race directors began emphasizing the
non-competitive aspect and added more fun stuff like climbing walls, face
painting and random prize drawings. Except for a few "natural runners",
the seasonal kids run had little to do with the boring lap completions
that students did during PE, at least before PE was eliminated in many
areas.
The introduction of charity runs and training groups
for adults and school jogathons continued to put the focus on participating
at a comfortable pace in order to go the distance. "Races" of
all types evolved into "Fun Runs" or goal events like Marathons
that just needed to be completed to qualify for a celebration. Today,
the fitness goals that help bring adult runners to the streets (see
State of the Sport Part II) also bring more youth to events and increase
the numbers who are prepared enough to increase the odds of having a positive
experience. As Tables 1 and 2 illustrate, the percent of younger runners
in road events has stayed about the same over the last 2 decades, but
the total pie has grown considerably. For example, in 1992, there were
198,000 5K finishers (or 18% of the overall total) between the ages of
5 and 19 inclusive compared to 616,140 in 2007 (also 18%) or more than
a three-fold absolute increase from 1992 to 2007.
| Table 1: Younger Age Groups in U.S. Road Running Events |
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| Percent of Youth Age 6 to 17 years Race Finishers |
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2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
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| Timed Female Road Race Finishers: 6 to 17 yrs (RRIC) |
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7.5% |
8.2% |
7.9% |
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| Timed Male Road Race Finishers: 6 to 17 yrs (RRIC) |
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7.7% |
8.6% |
8.6% |
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| Percent of College Age Race Finishers |
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2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
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| Timed Road Race Female Finishers: 18 to 24 yrs (RRIC) |
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11.3% |
11.3% |
11% |
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| Timed Road Race Male Finishers: 18 to 24 yrs (RRIC) |
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6.8% |
7.0% |
7.2% |
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| source: Running USA RRIC |
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| Table 2: Youth Road Running Event Participation by Distance |
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1992 |
2002 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
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| 5K |
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| Timed Road Race Finishers: 5 to 19 yrs (RRIC) |
18% |
14.1% |
17.6% |
18.6% |
18.0% |
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| 10K |
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| Timed Road Race Finishers: 5 to 19 yrs (RRIC) |
6% |
8.5% |
7.3% |
8.6% |
8.6% |
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| Half-Marathon |
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| Timed Road Race Finishers: 5 to 19 yrs (RRIC) |
n/a |
2.3% |
2.6% |
3.0% |
3.1% |
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| Marathon |
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| Timed Road Race Finishers: 5 to 19 yrs (RRIC) |
1% |
2.1% |
1.9% |
1.8% |
2.0% |
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| source: Running USA RRIC |
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Kids Runs Combine Fun with Fitness
and Achievement
The most successful running experiences for young people - those with
the most growth - are able to combine fun, fitness and achievement. There
are more kids runs than ever before. Many adult events that started with
Diaper Dashes, Toddler Trots and half-miles have added miles and 5Ks for
kids only. Other kids runs are being added to the local race calendar
or increasing participation as the goal event for a certain season and
a running-based fitness program. At least half of the Largest Kids Runs
compiled by Running USA's Road Running Information Center found at www.runningusa.org/cgi/evbg-youth.pl
are the goal event for a training or fitness program. Other youth event
trends include a focus on family participation, increased promotions in
the schools and fun extras like mascot races.
Running USA has compiled a Youth Running Event Calendar
that can be seen at www.RunningRocks.com/events,
a new youth resources portal to be officially launched soon. Youth event
directors are invited to add their events as dates become known.
Growth of Competitive Running in Secondary Schools
The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) compiles
athletics participation numbers which show increases in both track and
field and cross country through 2007. Over the six year period from Fall
2001 to Spring 2007, Cross Country grew by 14.5% to 183,376 for girls
and 13% to 216,085 for boys. The 1-year increase was about 4% for each
gender. For Outdoor Track and Field, the six-year increase was 7% to 444,181
for girls and 10% to 544,180 for boys, with a one-year increase of 1%
for girls and 2% for boys. Similar to recent years, 46% of high school
cross country participants and 45% of outdoor track and field participants
are female. See NFHS.org
for updated data later in the fall.
The SGMA Insight08 report cautions, however, that the
sports industry should not count on continued growth from school team
sports. "The key market for most sports equipment, athletic footwear
and sports apparel is the group aged 5 to 19 and it is growing slowly.
In fact, participation levels in most team sports tend to peak around
age 11. Team sports participation was buoyed in the 1990s by a flood of
girls getting into sports for the first time. While girls will continue
to play, high school data suggests that the number of women athletes is
now increasing no faster than the number of boy athletes." Cross
country may or may not continue to have annual growth but regardless,
potential numbers of younger competitive sports participants are much
smaller than potential fitness participants - especially given that the
obesity crisis has caught the attention of most parents and school districts
in America.
Training Programs Proliferating
Training or running-based fitness programs for youth are taking root all
over the country and increasing the number of youth runs and / or youth
divisions of existing events. Some of the more established programs that
have been identified as "models" by Running USA, are expanding
into other states. In celebration of New York Road Runner's 50th Anniversary,
for example, the NYRR Foundation has a goal of assisting groups in all
50 states with the development of a new program this school year. Just
Run's extensive online resources, developed by the Big Sur International
Marathon with the help of Active.com have enabled new programs to flourish
in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Oregon, Pennsylvania,
Utah, Virginia and Washington. Many of the programs that started with
a few elementary schools are adding more school districts as well as older
grades this fall.
The original successful model for training non-running
high school students has been and still is Students Run LA which began
in 1989. Their mission is "to challenge at-risk secondary students
to experience the benefits of goal-setting, character development, adult
mentoring and improved health by providing them with a truly life-changing
experience - training for and the completion of the City of Los Angeles
Marathon." In 2007, 450 teachers and coaches worked with 3,500 students
and almost 3,000 of the program's participants achieved their goal. Students
Run LA and Students Run Oakland helped 3,078 youth 19 and under (or 15%
of the overall race total) finish the 2007 marathon compared to 2,178
(or 11%) of the 2004 marathon field. Typical marathons have only 1% of
the under-20 age group. Because the goals are ambitious and the need for
qualified mentors is great there have been few programs like Students
Run LA, but a "Tool Kit" developed with funding from the Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation has assisted the establishment of similar programs
in Philadelphia, Poughkeepsie, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Maine, Arizona
and about a dozen other places.
To keep up with the expansion of running based programs,
check out the Programs Directory on the new portal RunningRocks.com.
Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Director
(805) 696-6232; Fax = (805) 659-0016
Ryan@RunningUSA.org
www.RunningUSA.org.
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