Hi guys

Just wondered if anyone knows about kids running shoes? My 8 year old son is doing the sport relief mile this weekend with me and has decided he really quite likes running although have drawn the line at his request to buy him his own Garmin

He comes out with me 1-2 times per week and we do up to 2 miles running, with walk breaks when he needs them. At the moment he is running in a pair of cheapo trainers and I just wondered if the same things applied to kids feet as adults? ie should he get some *proper* running shoes and can you even buy such things? Or are kids a bit more robust and less injury prone, so it's not as important.

Any advice/experience anyone has on this would be welcome!

Brooks do two excellent kids shoes.
A neutral one called the Radius and a stable one called the Vantage.
Check out www.brooksrunning.co.uk

It's a personal opinion but that is one item i would never skimp on

Bear in mind that your young'n is going to have to get around on his feet for the next .goodness only knows how long .

It really is a small investment in his future well being to have the best you can afford .
I fully understand financial constraints and like i said it's a personal opinion !
whether it be day or running shoes



Good luck doing the mile

ALL THE BEST

Cheriton

Most major running brands do scaled down versions of their most popular shoes, and they tend not to be that expensive.
As you suspect, kids are generally fairly robust and can wear most things. My personal opinion is not to put them into a 'support' shoe unless absolutely necessary, as you should let them grow naturally without trying to support or control their footstrike. Just my opinion though so doesn't mean it's correct!!!

Kids up to around the age of eight should NOT be in support shoes as their feet are not fully developed.

Thanks for the advice. Seems like the general thought is that it is best to have a specific running shoe, but not a "support" one?

Does a couple of miles sound like a reasonable distance to stick with for boy this age do you think?

I suppose there are a couple of schools of thought the fact that his bones are still developing you should be careful if as you say your'e doing a run walk thing it should be fine .Iwould imagine that a variety of sports might be better at this stage so as he can devlope all his muscle groups more effectivley .

Exercise needs to be a s much fun as possible to keep them interested !

Cheriton

I remember reading something about running for longer distances not being good for kids due to the repetitive nature of it. I reckon 2 miles would've been okay though? I'm sure my dad used to take me out around that far when I was around that age.

__________________
www.richardsimkiss.co.uk - Glooston 10k report added

He does do football every Saturday as well - imagine that is potentially much more likely to result in injury! But even running with his mum can't compete with the glory of scoring a goal I am guessing

once read somewhere that a childs body does not physically adapt to the training until they are 11 or 12. Up to then, it is just neural pathway development.

Good luck finding kids trainers that aren't soccer biassed.

TIP - Look in the ladies section - you can get smaller sizes there which may suit kids

__________________
Running Blog | Triathlon Blog