"Like many runners, 14-year-old Dan Anderson felt his body disintegrating around mile 17 of the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon. But fueled by a cheering crowd, the Wisconsin teenager completed the grueling 26.2-mile race to join an elite and controversial club: young long-distance runners.

Though running helps build bones, stamina and muscles, children younger than 18 shouldn't be competing in marathons, which are eight times the distance of high school cross-country races, according to the International Marathon Medical Directors Association. In addition to fears that an overuse injury could lead to problems with a child's growth plates, there are also concerns about the psychological effects of training for such an intense race.

Not all races have age restrictions, however, so is it OK to let your child run?

Each year, thousands of children finish the Los Angeles Marathon with a training group called Students Run LA. Nearly 300 kids have completed the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon. And some say marathon running is fine for many kids, assuming they train properly"

New York Times
June 15, 2009

"Recruiters for the recreational program MetroLacrosse wander school halls each winter, looking for children willing to learn a sport that is rarely played in this city's poorest neighborhoods.

A student at the McKay School in East Boston, where Sports4Kids coach Tes Siarnacki works to get students, especially girls, more active.

Signing up boys takes little more than hanging a picture of a lacrosse player in the gym, said Tracey Britton, the group's director of youth and rookie programs. But persuading girls takes weeks of wooing: encouraging them to sign up with friends, holding girls-only clinics, and winning over teachers they trust.

"It is much more time intensive and staff intensive," Britton said.

MetroLacrosse, which serves 600 children, is one of several Boston sports groups that are aggressively trying to increase girls' participation. The city is at the vanguard of a movement to close the gender gap in urban areas by rethinking traditional activities and looking for new ways to encourage girls to play."