Running Groups for Kids

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Parent Q&A

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  • Running group for whole family or ages 6&8

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    Jul 29, 2023

    Hi. I am looking for a fun running group for the whole family, with coaches that teach proper form and help train for races. Ideally this would be a family event, as we the parents would like to also be involved and use running for fitness. But, since that may be hard to find, we would love to find a relaxed, and fun running group for elementary aged children. We don't want a hyper competitive environment, as it seems to be the case with kid sports nowadays. We want this for fitness, and a skill to learn, would be fun to run some races too. Thank you. (anywhere in the bay area is fine)

    Jul 29, 2023

    We love Running for a Better Oakland (RBO)! They meet on Saturday mornings at Snow Park in Oakland and the RBO coaches guide them through practice. While it's for kids (all ages), many parents volunteer and participate in both the trainings and the races. Not competitive at all (though they do have medals, acknowledge race winners, etc. and some of the older kids also run competitively).

    Aug 1, 2023
    Recommended:
    Running for a Better Oakland (RBO)

    Cannot say enough good things about Olympian Joy Upshaw's ages 3-14 running group Jack Rabbits Track Club https://jackrabbitstrack.com/. 

    My son started with Coach Joy in 5th grade, stayed with her through middle school, and she was his coach through high school for long jump- she is an amazing athlete / coach / human being.  Highly recommend.

    Aug 2, 2023
    Recommended:
    Jack Rabbit's Track Club

  • Family running club?

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    Jan 20, 2021

    I'd like to get my 10 year old son a little more interested in running by running (distantly) with some other kids/families, for maybe 5K maximum. Does such a group exist in the East Bay? Or should I start one?

    Jan 20, 2021

    We have loved Running for a Better Oakland (RBO), which is doing online weekly practices right now but meets in person in normal times. It's a great organization that has adapted relatively seamlessly to these crazy times. Kids are assigned runs and challenges to do on their own each week, and some meet up for distanced runs with friends.

    Jan 31, 2021

  • Running for girls

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    Oct 9, 2020

    Hi, 

    I am looking for a running program, cross country or track, for my 13 year old daughter. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!! 

    Oct 9, 2020

    Raptors Running Club is a really wonderful nonprofit club team for both girls and boys. It promotes healthy form, healthy habits, and the love of running as a lifelong practice - not the overtraining and other unhealthy things our daughter encountered on her high school team. http://runningraptors.org/

    Oct 12, 2020
    Recommended:
    The Raptors

    Hi there, I would recommend going on ultrasignup.com It is a website that has running events from all over the country, I am sure you will be able to find something there, but of course most of them might be postponed right now. Best!

    Oct 12, 2020

    Hello, I would be happy to recommend Inside trail, they are local and are organizing runs all over the Bay Area. I have been running with them for a few years now and I have seen children from 8 and up running. They organize runs from 5k to 100k, most of them are trail runs. Their website is www.insidetrail.com

    Oct 12, 2020

    Hi all, these are great ideas, and a great topic in the time of COVID.  We're looking for a running club too.  The Raptors sounds pretty good, but does anyone know of a running club a bit more south like around San Leandro?  Also, we have a 16-yo son, and I wonder he'd be too old for the Raptors?  Thanks all!

    Oct 19, 2020

    Thank you so so much! 

    Oct 20, 2020

    Re: Raptors - there's a really wide array of ages involved; some of the runners are high school students. I walked by one of their workouts last week and it was older teens. The main coach's college-aged kid attends workouts, and often acts as a coach to the younger kids. Sorry - they really are based in Berkeley and Albany though!

    Oct 26, 2020
    Recommended:
    The Raptors

    Oakland Cubs! My 13 yr old (f) has been with them for two years, and I can't love the coach enough. Body positive and just so, so fantastic with girls. She's skilled and really gets the kids. Everyone is encouraged to work at their own level. 

    https://www.oaklandcubs.com/

    Nov 2, 2020
    Recommended:
    Oakland Cubs Youth Running Club

  • Track, Running Club for Middle-school kids

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    Jun 5, 2019

    Hi,

    I have a 12 year old who runs for her Middle-school  cross country and track program. Those programs sort of start and end suddenly and there are never enough coaches to train the kids. She would love to get better and do runs with other kids-she is not ready to go out running the roads of Berkeley yet!

    Jun 5, 2019

    Raptors is a fun, relaxed, supportive running club that my son participated in until recently, while he was in middle school. They meet Sunday mornings at Albany Middle School.
    runningraptors.org

    Jun 10, 2019
    Recommended:
    The Raptors

    Hi there-- my daughter loves to run as well; she's almost 13 years old. She also runs for her middle schools XC & track program.

    On weekends and after school, she runs with the Raptors and the coaches are wonderful: http://runningraptors.org/how-to-join.html. She would love to have a friend there!

    Jun 10, 2019
    Recommended:
    The Raptors

    There is a great youth running club called Raptors Running which works out variously at the Albany High track, King Middle School Track, or goes on trail runs. They focus on technique - healthy running! - so important for growing teens - especially girls, whose center of gravity changes as they develop. (As I can attest from personal experience: my daughter wound up with two different stress fractures because her HS coach had them run too many junk miles.)  http://runningraptors.org/

    They do charge a membership fee, but that really just covers the uniform (which is cool) and membership fees to the US Track association for the runner; the coaches all work for free, just because they love promoting the sport. The coaches really know how to coach for good form and core strength.

    Jun 10, 2019
    Recommended:
    The Raptors
RE:
Soccer skills for pre teen (Sep 7, 2016)

Hi there! I have a 7th grader, and he used to play soccer for about 4 years. He was never super good at it, never really enjoyed it that much, but mostly did it because friends from his school did it and that made it fun. When he started middle school last year, the soccer became super competitive. That is just not him. So a friend asked him to try running track with him. It has changed his life! I realize that maybe not all kids would take to it like he did, but there are about 100 kids in his school that run, and they all find something in it that they like, all sizes, heights, body types. You can be competitive, or not. But basically you get to run around all afternoon with your friends, and the boys joke around and wrestle a lot, too. I think that some of the smaller schools may have tryouts and limit the amount of kids to just the most serious athletes. This is a shame! Shouldn't we be encouraging all kids who want to get off their screens and run around to develop something that can turn into a lifelong fitness habit?? Even if a school has a tryout cross-country/track program, there are local teams that he could join (my son is part of the Raptors as well as being on his middle school team.) As a parent, I love it because it is pretty simple to get started, you need some good shoes and you just start running. And a good coach will encourage each kid to improve from their own starting point; not to strive to be number one, but to challenge themselves to shave a few seconds off of their own personal record. You are part of a team, and yet it is still very individual. It is great for kids who are just not into the aggressive turn that soccer takes at their ages. Best to you guys!

Sep 19, 2016
Recommended:
The Raptors,
Running Groups for Kids