Running with my nephew recently was such a fun & rewarding activity I really wanted to share it with everyone & encourage you to run with your own kids or family.
Last holidays I went running with my nephew Rylan (who’s in 3rd class at school) & was surprised by his endurance & excitement of running. Of course he knows I love running, and so he asked me if we could go for a run together when we visited next. Last Christmas we’d been for a run with his Dad & sister a few times after I set him a challenge to run home from the beach (about 1km), which he did easily. From that we progressed to 3km & 5km runs over the week, all of which he completed with a smile. Since then he’s been talking more about running & so we had a run planned for Saturday morning on our latest trip.
I had suggested we’d go for a 5km trail run along the Coffs creek trail. It’s a beautiful run & only 500m from where he lives so it was perfect. We set off at a leisurely pace chatting about everything from soccer to school, movies & lego etc. Once we were on the trail it was great to see his wonder at everything we saw. Initially it was the different terrain we were running on (grass, gravel, wooden boardwalks, sand, & muddy trail) but then we really started to notice everything around us. Big weeping trees leaning over the creek, bridges, lizards, just about everything. When we ran past the showground we stopped to have a look at the rows of empty horse stalls with the last remnants of straw & chaff, and pondered where all the horses were & when they were coming back. We compared the old timber stalls to the new grey concrete brick stalls & which ones the horses would prefer to live in. It was good to let the imagination run, and a well-timed walk break too.
From the showground we continued on along the dirt trail, jumping over tree roots and amongst the bush. After another kilometre we came to fork in the road so I let Rylan decide our path. Crossing over the rickety wire bridge was an experience in itself & then we saw the sculpture on the other side. Another rest stop to admire the wooden totem style carving with a huge eagle on top and it got us talking about native birds, why magpies swoop, why you leave a plaque on a statue or building and who were the people who put it there, & how. It’s so great to experience the curiosity & thirst for knowledge. We were both having a great run/walk.
After a little while longer I decided to double back as we hadn’t gone quite as far around the loop as I’d hoped & I didn’t want to keep him out for ages. For a split second I thought it’s a shame we didn’t get to run the 5km non stop, to meet the challenge we’d set, but as all parents (& good uncles & aunties) would know, it was so much better 
not to have done that. We had a fun exploration & run, we had some quality time together that didn’t involve the iPad or TV and Rylan went home still enjoying running & wanting to do some more. Sometimes readjusting the goals or reducing the challenge can be exactly what’s needed. I’m still trying to foster his enjoyment of running, and exploring is such a great way to do that. Stopwatches & perfectly measured distances aren’t essential at this stage. If he wants to do that, great I’ll certainly help, but it should come from the little runner & not well-meaning adults.
Here’s to many more adventures.
Check out our blog next week for tips on Introducing children to running. We’ve got 5 fun ways to help get your kids running.
For guidelines & precautions on running with children have a look here or head to the Australian Dept of Health website with Physical Activity Guidelines for children.
Other great resources include;
NSW government Healthy Kids
Victorian government Better Health Channel
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