It depends, previous posts in this thread have stated that its used by some instead of Special Endurance. Its important for beginners to have the general fitness that is developed by (among other things) tempo. As a method of recovery for beginners its obviously not as vital to a beginner as opposed to a top end sprinter, but I still feel its important to get young athletes into the habit of using tempo and other regeneration methods at least some of the time. I use it with all of my group and none of them are currently sub 11.0 runners, both as a means of improving general fitness and for recovery from races during the summer months, always on grass, and that factor alone plays a part in keeping injuries at bay.