By Rob Haneisen/Daily News staff
GHS
Posted Apr 04, 2009 @ 11:45 PM
Confident and athletic, Jen Fairbanks ran the Boston Marathon her junior and senior years in high school, finishing the grueling races at ages 16 and 17.

But the decision to run against the advice of her parents and coach is one she regrets. A month after finishing Boston, Fairbanks blew out her knee playing soccer - an injury she blames on the pounding her knees took running two marathons at such an early age.

"I have a 17-year-old son and I would not encourage him to do it," said Fairbanks, currently the boys cross country coach at Hopkinton High School. "I would strongly discourage anybody that young to do it. Teenagers are still growing and you want to have your knees forever."

Fairbanks had reconstructive knee surgery three years ago in part to repair the damage her knees suffered from running extreme distances at such an early age.

The Boston Athletic Association, which organizes the Marathon, requires entrants to be 18 years old by race day, but unofficial runners known as bandits have no restrictions.

I would never let Duncan do this at 17. The effort would be substantially better spent on shorter distances and success therein for his age. Adding up Diet,Recovery,Mental and Physical (Osteo)aspects just to do a Marathon, wow that's a lot to take on just to do it. We all wish our kids could do something kinda "hercularian" and that's great, but precautions may play a greater role. Good luck with that assessment.

great way to be apert of it. Do the Fish leg in the 1st 6 miles

My gut feeling was that she should not do it, and I told her that. (My own child, CeCelia, is 19 and she knows I don't want her to do a full marathon until after she graduates college at least.) But I didn't know if it would make a difference for her to do it very slowly and with walk breaks. This is why I told her I would get the advice of my expert running friends.

For the record, I did tell her that at her age, her bones are still growing and that marathons are not recommended. I would never advise anyone, of any age, to do something dangerous.

a lifetime dealing with injury just isn't worth it. Not to say that is what would happen, but....

and finished 3rd in the under-18s out of about 15 total. The kid who won was a 13-year-old AG record holder from Canada. Those were different days.

Looking back, it was a great thing for me in some ways, not good others. It gave me a tremendous sense of accomplishment, but it trashed my freshman x-c season in college. And I think I was lucky too. I'd totally stopped growing (alas!) and did much of my training on dirt roads. And the marathon itself was about half on dirt, so it was easier on the body than most. And MDI is harder on the body than most.

These days there are so many choices. For a 17-year-old who wants to go long, I'd think a half is a perfect compromise--a nice goal and challenge, but not requiring the kind of pounding that makes marathon training and racing so grueling.

and I'm glad I did.

She should think about:
why she wants to run it now
what other options are to 'deal with' those compelling personal things
what she wants from her running career
what type of support she has from her parents (THEY sign the waiver form)
what her current health is and how marathon training could affect it for better for worse
her running background and how stressful marathon training is in comparison to it

for starters.

NOT A GOOD IDEA!

It sounds as if she has no real base to train from if she just runs when she feels like it. 20 weeks is not adequate base for marathons IMO. Years of steady training is preferred for this distance.

For a novice even with walk breaks the stress will be both the distance and the time duration. Sure she could do it but. . .

The growth areas for the skeleton should be fully closed and strong before marathon training or racing. One might argue she simply run it on minimal training to lessen her risks somewhat, but this would be still a risky sufferfest.

Agree. I made myself wait until I was 26 before I ran my first marathon.

I will pass all of this along to her. She is a very intelligent girl, and I am sure she will come up with a better alternative. I appreciate all the responses.

How are you feeling these days?

not too bad, trying to take care of a double ear infection and sinus infection, otherwise healthy. I am at the track meet at umo.

Wish Haydn luck for me in the 2 mile!!!