October 6, 2006
"She had previously run for 12 hours non-stop but was unused to running on roads."
Said Dominque Lakra, the coach of the 10-year-old Anastasia Barla, who ran 72 kilometers (45 miles) before stopping out of exhaustion. But the 5-minute break she'd taken after 58 kilometers had invalidated her attempt to beat Budhia Singh, the 4-year-old boy who ran 65 kilometers without a break. "The girl is comfortable on soil, which is soft," the not-so-soft-hearted coach explained. Anastasia is going to give it another try when the weather cools off, in India, where there is a truly crazy craze for long-distance running by children.
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14 comments:
A bizarre and dangerous thing to encourage children to do, but it is worse than letting them sit in front of entertainment centers for hours?
Just think-if she tried that in America, they would lock up the coach for child abuse.
What about the 'truly crazy craze for long-distance running' by adults in America?
Marathon running by non-athletes over the age of, say, 25, is the modern secular equivalent of crawling backwards on one's knees to Jerusalem while wearing a hairshirt.
If you run more than 10-15 miles in one session, the health risks outweigh the benefits. And running over 18-20 miles, as anyone who's done it will tell you, is torture, like having a maniac pound your feet with ball-peen hammers.
Mmm...so healthy, such fun!
AJ: Rightly so, and that's why we don't see that level of abuse here. Children aren't supposed to run more than 15 miles a week. And the dangers include renal failure.
George, I hadn't thought about it like that, but you're right. In the old days if someone survived a horrible disease or an accident they might make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Now they run a marathon.
It's really the crazy craze for setting Guinness world records.
Renal failure from running? Interesting.
Where does the limit of 15 miles per week come from? And what are children? I rand more than 15 miles a week for a while when I was a teenager and suffered no ill effects.
These days I don't know if "teenager" is a "child" or not. Depends on the context: if you run, probably not, but if you run messages on Capitol Hill, then yes, you are still a "child."
Dave: From the linked article: "Marathon experts maintain that children under 10 should not run more than 15 miles a week. The minimum age for competing in international marathons — a distance of 26.2 miles (42km) — is 18."
Ahh.
I suppose I should have clicked through the link. Thanks.
I can't believe those numbers would be so freakishly amazing if you put pedometers on the average toddler. It's just a lack of data.
Sanjay: Interesting point, but keep in mind that a toddler is running around doing exactly what motivates him in the present. What's especially disturbing about these child runners is that they're maintaining a fixation on a distant goal, for reasons that an adult has put into their heads. Even if it we're physical abuse, it would be psychological abuse.
tcd: I doubt if Guinness accepts record-setting by children.
And if you watch Indian TV you'll see that the famewhore bug isn't a Western one. Lots of singing/talent competitions for the kids.
Professor Althouse, I think you have a solid point with the physical abuse -- but not the psychological (at least for the four year old -- the ten year old, not so sure). My three-year-old will run like hell for quite literally hours on end because, I suppose ultimately,of some goofy idea I have put in her head ("pretend to be a flying pteranodon" or the like). I cnan't believe that four-year-old's concept of what was going on much matches ours, nor that he wasn't, in his own way, digging it.
the 4-year-old boy who ran 65 kilometers without a break
Just imagine Mark Foley's behind you... you can do anything!
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