how young is too young for a half-marathon?

Question

I am 17 (born December 89) I run quite regularly abt 31miles a week. (6 days per week), but am constantly increasing my running.

I run a 5:15 mile, and am hovering around 18 minutes for a 5k. I have run in alot of 5k's and am beginning to find the distance boring.

Although only 17, I am seriously considering running in a half-marathon. I am off to the University of San Francisco in the fall, and am either interested in a half marathon in either october or my main goal is the Bath(England) half marathon in mid-march.

Is 17, or early 18...too early to be running a half marathon?

Answer 1

No, 17 is not too young.

If you are running 31 miles a week, you should be fun. Adjust your training schedule to increase your long runs. Even if you are just doing six 5 mile runs a week right now, you could easily do a 8 or 9 mile run right now. You can easily stretch that to 13 miles in no time. Find a training schedule for a half marathon and adjust your running to it.

Good luck.

Answer 2

You are fine to run a half marathon at your age. Looking at your mile time, age, and how many miles you are putting in each week, I would suggest the following. First you do need to crank up your weekly mileage to at least 50, preferably 60.

Make sure you get one longer run in each week, at least 10 miles.

Last but not least, not necessarily for the half marathon, but you need to get your mile time down. You need to run either 400 or 800 intervals at a pace significantly faster than your 5.15 pace. For example a 5.15 mile is about 79 seconds per lap. You should run some 400's with a 3-4 minute rest at something below 70 seconds. This will help you improve your overall strength, speed, and endurance.

Answer 3

Vincy, if you're currently running without any problems and are injury-free, I see no reason why you shouldn't run a half. I think the half is a challenge, but not the killer a real marathon can be.

There is a rule of thumb that you can run 3 times your average daily mileage. What you might want to do is adjust your mileage to get in a 10-miler, then 5 twice a week. and maybe 3 three times a week, alternating long and easy days. That way you get a chance to adjust mentally to the distance and resting between long runs.

Good Luck

Answer 4

not answering ur question but that is a epic time im 14 and a relitevly decent runner (running half a year now) and can do that pace for 3km! and longest run is 21km but i guess u been training a while could u email me or pst me how long u been training? tyvm also found this while browsing for ya 14y 67d James Drews (26 Apr 1958,USA) 2:37:05 02 Jul 1972 Whitewater WI USA 14y233d Chang-Son Kim (11 Apr 1952,PRK) 2:42:30 30 Nov 1966 Pnon Penh CAM 15y 90d Kiptanui Sirma (22 Aug 1958,KEN) 2:29:27.0 28 Nov 1973 Kisumu KEN 16y175d Gert Thys (12 Nov 1971,RSA) 2:34:10 07 May 1988 Kenhardt RSA 16y364d Clayton Craig (1956,USA) 2:28:22 30 Dec 1972 Melbourne FL USA 17y 28d Scott Bagley (10 Aug 1964,USA) 2:28:49 07 Sep 1981 Rochester NY USA 17y 30d Philip Nicholls (29 Sep 1983,ENG) 2:48:12 29 Oct 2000 Llanberis WAL 17y 35d James Berka (12 Jan 1952,USA) 2:40:35.3 16 Feb 1969 Artesia NM USA 17y 89d Jeff Dettmer (09 Jan 1961,USA) 2:29:03 08 Apr 1978 Orange CA USA 17y229d Ed Steingraber (1956,USA) 2:40:52 18 Aug 1973 Quincy IL USA those are marathon times so ya..

Answer 5

Deffinatley not im 13 and im a serious runner and i ran a half marathon about a month ago, its not that bad. I thought it was never ending but once i finished i was glad i did it, i accomplished a big goal for my age. I think that you should just go for it and do your best your not too young their may be a few people younger than you. I think you should just try your best and just finish. To finish a half marathon is a big goal and a reachable one. Just keep up the training and you soon will be on to a marathon. Good luck and just have fun!

Answer 6

It's not too young and since you probably ran in high school and currently get 30 miles a week, you don't have to go out of your way to train for it. It's only 13 miles, and many hs runners do a long run of near 13 miles every week. You can do it, maybe amp up the training 5-10 miles a week but you are already close to shape.

Answer 7

I think you are can easily run a half-marathon, but then you run don't push yourself too much. You're probably not a profesional so there noothing bad to finish and don;t be totaly exhausted.

I'm like you... I run 40-50 km per week... But I train everyday and i'm a little bit younger, but No one lets me run a half-marathon!

Answer 8

It's okay if u want to run ... i had run a half marathon when i was 15 and the time was 2hrs 40min+ .. it's ok cuz it my first time .. only to finish .. was.... 17 yrs old should not be a problem ... and if u train well u will perform well enough ...

Good luck ..Run the first time to finish only .. Good luck .

Answer 9

no wayy..im 14 and my mom wants me to do one and my 5k is in the 20's noo u should b fine running a half marathon..there will b alot of kids younger than you and you should do fine..if u are kinda unsure about it then run a 10k but u should def. do it!! good luck!!

Answer 10

no way, under 3 is probally a little to young. i live near bath and see many people younger than you runnig