Growing a Running Family

Tips on raising kids that run.

Introduction

My wife and I ran extensively together before having kids. We have been running partners for nearly 20 years. Our first marathon was run together in 2005. We started as a team of two, and gradually we are becoming a running family of four.  

This represents a huge oversimplification. There have been multiple stages in our development.

Running with children requires a lot of thought and planning, and I suspect that the birth of kids puts an end to many peoples' active lifestyles. At least there is a hiatus in many cases. There are inevitable periods where running is not an option, or where running together is difficult or impossible. In fact, it is really much easier to run separately from one another; however, this means losing my best running partner and spending even less time together.

Our children are now almost 8 and 5, and we are only starting to assemble a group of 4 people who run together (i.e. simultaneously). It is a work in progress, a constant evolution. I will try to address multiple stages of development and solutions that have helped us.

The Larval Stage

I had to constantly be reminded that new babies are fragile. There is a "fourth trimester" that occurs outside of the mother's body. An infant cannot simply be placed into a stroller to bounce around for a few hours. This is obvious in retrospect, but I remember being shocked and disappointed to learn that a child must be six months old to ride in a typical jogging stroller. They lack head control and are simply too delicate. 

For various physiologic and medical reasons, a couple usually cannot run together for the first 4-6 weeks after birth. This period is one of great adjustment and sleep deprivation, so I barely noticed that we had become relatively inert together. Naps were a pretty big thing, running not so much.

A proud and somewhat perplexed father
holds his new offspring.

Gradually we resumed activity as a nascent family.  We went through several wearable baby carriers, including the BabyBjörn (shown) and later the ErgoBaby carrier. Carriers are essential for walking together but hardly suited for any kind of serious activity (i.e. running).

Napping in a garden with the BabyBjorn.

Hiking was facilitated by the backpack carrier. This wasn't running either, but good times were to be had.

Hiking in the Alps with the Deuter backpack. Also not suitable for running.

At some point we noticed that we were not running together anymore. Mostly we were just taking turns running on our own, and both of us were confined to shorter distances. Sometimes we would get a sitter or a family member and enjoy a race together. In 2009, for example, we renewed our wedding vows in the Las Vegas Marathon. 

We learned from our first child and figured a few things out with our second child.

The Pre-stroller

A technical solution to the conventional running stroller's limitations becomes available at 4-6 weeks of age: the modified Chariot.  Originally designed as a bicycle trailer, the Thule (AKA Chariot) stroller has adapters to make it into a stroller with 3 wheels. When used with the hammock accessory (see below), it can be started as early as 4 weeks of age!

The Chariot or Thule bicycle trailer is enclosed, has a
running attachment (shown) and pushes very well.

Hammock attachment can be used with a very
small baby. It suspends them in recumbent position
and enables very early family runs.

We figured out the Chariot with our second child. Each of us pushed a stroller with one of the kids, and we were a running family fairly early after our daughter's birth.

The Baby Stroller Era

Our kids practically grew up in strollers. At about 6-8 months they were ready for the running stroller. Our choice was the Bob Revolution, first a single and later a double. There are other viable options, including the Chariot sans hammock sling, which actually works very well in colder climates because it is enclosed and warmer. The larger strollers add quite a bit of drag, especially in wind or on unpaved surfaces.

At the start of a 5K race with our 3-year-old
daughter. She would run the Kid's
race after our finish.

The kids became very used to riding in the stroller. Sometimes I would have them with me for 2 or 3 hours at a time. Things that helped were music (powered speaker), games, snacks and eventually tablet computers, books. With time, we started seeing our 2-3 year old kids want to get up and join us on foot, running alongside. This was an important milestone but never lasted more than 5 or 10 minutes at a time. Both kids were thankful to climb back in and ride along.

My son Jack leaving the stroller.  Typically he was good for 1-2 km of overly
spirited running. he inevitably drops back into the stroller.

Eventually we started using the Double Bob stroller, and this changed the dynamics of running again. The double stroller is considerably harder to push but allows one of the runners to have free hands. We were very fortunate to have a friend, who gave us her double stroller, because they are fairly expensive. Traveling with a double stroller on a plane is challenging. 

In a large race, start at the back. Confirm with the race director that strollers are
allowed. Anticipate some frustration in the initial miles until
you find a pace that accommodates you. I find that
the stroller adds about 1 min/km (1:30/mile) to my pace.

One unexpected consequence of the double stroller was that it approximated almost exactly my 5-10K race handicap when racing my wife.  Running together, my wife places in her age group, and I get a very challenging workout pushing both kids. The big prize is running together as a family and finishing together simultaneously. 

The longest double stroller race that we have done together was a half marathon. I have done a 20 mile training run on my own with two bored kids in the Double Bob. A consolation: storage for hydration and nutrition. 

I have found that most race directors are fairly lenient about allowing strollers as long as we stay out of peoples' way. Some races even had a category for fastest stroller team.

Both of us at our limits. Sub-23 minute 5K, finishing together as a couple.

Look for the Kid's K race
afterward.

Many races now have kids' runs that vary between 1K and one mile, often tailored toward encouraging the transition to family running. The kids have varying and unpredictable enthusiasm for this, but mostly they are free races or cheap ($10), and the kids often get a shirt or a prize.

Other times we run to family-friendly events, such as the nearby Balloon Fiesta or to festivals. Frequently I will get up early, stash a car near the destination, run home and grab the family. Knowing that the car is at the destination allows us to go longer distances together as a family, and it gives me a double workout.

Running at dawn to the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque. The car is already stashed
at the festival. Roundtrip, this is a 30K run, but the kids are in the stroller for
only 90 minutes of it.

Transition to Running

Kids are natural runners. I would kill for my daughter's form. In fact, it is hard to keep kids from running everywhere, because running is an extension of play to them. Sadly, as we get older, we begin to think of running as a form of work or exercise. Many of us unlearn how to run or forget how to run as play. We wear stupid shoes to work that ruin our feet and our natural tendency toward forefoot striking.

I honestly do not know at what age one should encourage the kids to run on their own. They have to enjoy it. Just as for us, however, there will be periods of discomfort, hard work, even suffering. balancing this with fun is critical. I have probably erred toward waiting too long before they start actually running, especially competitively, for any distance. Probably there is great variability between individuals, and probably there are some people for whom it will never happen.

The biggest difficulty we encountered initially was distance. Neither of our kids can run more than 5K at a time, and often much shorter. At least this has been the case so far. For longer runs, my son will ride his bicycle. This works for distances up to about 10 km. It is obviously not appropriate for races, but it facilitates a decent 1 hour family run.

For initial runs, the distance is determined by my son.
We never pushed him beyond what was obviously play.

We do quite a few hybrid runs now, with some sort of combined locomotion (bicycle, stroller, running).  My daughter still fits in a single stroller, but she won't reliably finish a 5 km race. My son, however, has begun doing the 5 km distance as a race. I'll push my daughter in the single stroller and pace him simultaneously.

5K cross country course. I do a lot to encourage my son.
Sometimes we hold hands. I give him splits and tell him
distances to go. We wear matching shoes!

Pushing my daughter in the stroller while racing a 5K with my son.

Constant coaching and encouragement, and matching Altra shoes.
Cheering spectators mean the world to him. My job is to
keep him from running too fast at times.

Every finish is a victory

 I want to be careful to encourage our younger one, while still being inclusive. She's actually pretty tough, and possibly the more natural runner of the two. 

My daughter will run separately. We are careful to not make her compete against her
older brother. She does look up to him, however, and wants to
do what he does.

I am determined to preserve this natural form
while she is still young.
Thankfully my son has finally grown
into the Altra One Kid shoe that accommodates
size 1-6. We make do for our younger daughter
with shoes from GoPlae. 

It is important that each run now provide some kind of fun for the kids. A great venue is our annual run for the zoo. A bonus: there are half-marathon, 10K, 5K and Kid's Mile distances, so something for everyone.

Run for the zoo. We ran the
21K (13.1 mile), pushing the double stroller. The
kids did their individual runs afterward.
Then we went to the zoo.

This is a combined race and fishing
derby. My son won a prize for catching a fish,
not for his running.

Although planning is important, extemporaneous activity is often where the best running seems to happen.  Running can be fun when you are chasing each other with snowballs or kicking a ball around, or chasing imaginary dragons. Don't forget to have fun, and make sure to get outside every day.

  

Keep it fun.