hi all am new to the forum. my son is 12 years and ran the 100s in about 12.5 in March when he was still 11 years. one of his competitors is said to have run it in 11.65 also in March. I am a bit sceptical about this time. how likely a time is this, and how does my son’s times compare generally. happy to get any comments.
That is moving for a 11 year old… Hell, I know people that have yet to run 12.5 and they are over 20 (no offense to anyone that hasn’t yet)… 11.65 by his competitor… was that HT or FAT? Was your son’s HT or FAT? Did you just hear this from someone or was this time actually said to have been run at the meet you were at… 11.65 for an 11/12 year old is very very fast. Not saying it isn’t possible though…
13 sec or better for that age group is pretty good. I just went to a national age group meet and the 11-12 year olds were at 12.6 FAT.
An 11.65 is freakish, that’s what I run now and I’m 16 :eek: . A 12.5 is very impressive for your son, when I was 12 I think I ran like a 14.0 (in flats) or something so your son has potential if he starts training, which I regrettably didn’t start till 2 months ago.
Yes, at age 13 I was running 13.1 HT at best… Your son is off to a good start…
Thanks to all of your for your replies. It is very heartening to think he has potential. To WRCortese5, I have only heard about the time of the boy who ran 11.65. It is supposed to be an electronic time that has been verified. however, he has knocked my son of the national team for a Pacific School Games on the basis of it. The irony is that in Jan 05, my son ran against him at a national competition and beat him comprehensively. My son won gold with a time of 12.92 while he came 7 out of the 8 finalists with a time of 14.12.
hmm… interesting… timing malfunction most likley then… you should look into that more.
I suppose you’ll know for sure if the kid gets owned at the Pacific School Games. But don’t sweat over it, the way your son seems to be running now there will be bigger competitions in later years.
Is your son 1993 or 1992? Are you from Oz? If you are then rest assured that no boy in Oz at that age can run 11.65 ET. This is the time good enough for BU15 finals. One of my athletes is Nov. 93 and has run 12.71 in Oct. 2004 HT. He is pretty good. There are a handfull of boys at that age who can run under 13.3ET in Australia.
11.65ET I have to see it to believe it.
PSG are in Dec.05 - looking forward to seeing it 
Thanks Sevastocrator for your response. I am from New Zealand. My son is July 1993. He is currently running around 12.5 which we thought was good. However, as I mentioned earlier he has been bumped off the PSG team because the Athletics Association here made a mistake and selected 10 athletes for Grade 12 boys instead of the max. 9 and my son has gone because they say they have two boys running 12.42 and 11.65 respectively. the boy running 12.42 came second to my son at the NI Colgate Games(NI Champs). We have no problem with his selection. he is a big strong lad who ran a 12.68 in the prelims at the above meet and then seemed to slow as the day progressed. It is the 11.65 that troubles us. We are taking the issue up with the association but am not sure if anything will change. Regards Yolvin.
12.5 is a good time. When I was 12 I ran a 12.6. Just to give you an idea of improvements this is the improvement I made.
12=12.5
14=11.7
15=11.3
16=10.8
17=10.7
19=10.6
22=10.94
All times are handtime exept my 10.94
One of my training partners, 13 yrs old have p.b’s of
100m=11.33
200m=23.0
400m=52.3
Not just only one of p.b’s but his times are consistent. On any given day he can run a 11.4 etc.
I think those times at that age are pretty pretty good. I ran my first 100 at
14yrs in 12.2
15yrs in 11.53
16yrs in 10.86 (thats when i started running)
17yrs in 10.85
18yrs in 10.66 (FAT)
i havent improved my 100 since then, too many injuries and too few competitions. I was able to drop my 200 times as my fitness improved since. Anyways this kid looks like he got a lot of potential at that age. He should be taken seriously and very carefully. Goodluck…
this is the most depressing thread i’ve ever read online. i doubt i can even go sub 13.5s and im 22…
i think im gonna go and have a cry for myself.
an 11 yr old would destroy me…
congrats to your son though. he is mighty fast…
12.5 at 12 years old?
dat’s crazy! i was around 13.5s when i was 12.
Last week he ran in the Norht Island of New Zealand Chanpionships (Colgate Games) winning three gold medals for 12 year olds in 100s, 200s, and 400s and a bronze in the LJ. His times were quite sensational (I think - I’m biased )
100 m 11.74
200 m 24.06
400 m 56.92
LJ 5.14 metres
this was his first 400 race this season and he had planned to use it as a warm-up to get into the competition as it was on the first day.
Trying to track down performances by other 12 year olds to compare times.
Holy shit, a 12 year old can almost beat me. 
I’d say those are some pretty awesome times. Especially if he dropped from a 12.5 to that 11.74 and not only that but hes strong in the 200 and 400 as well.
Yarride has not had much competition of late. Last week he had club champs where he broke the 100 and 200 m records but they were disallowed because of too much wind (it was a cross wind - but considered to be a tail wind). He ran 11.9 (hand timed) for the 100 and 25.06 for the 200. However, this is on a grass track and with no competition to speak of (the next fastest would have been over a second behind in the 100s). Tomorrow he has his school sports followed by a few major competitions. he is looking forward to getting back into serious competition.
Yarride ran in the East Coast (EC) Secondary Schools meet on Saturday, There was some confusion about his entry as his school was supposed to have registered him, however they did not do so. I was not too happy with them :). so he arrived at the stadium to find out he could not compete. After a lot of persuasion the organisers finally relected and put him in plcae of some other kid who had withdrawn. Anyway, he still managed to win his events:
100 m 11.94
200 m 24.49
LJ 5.20 metres
So it was a satisfying meet for him. His main goal was to be selected for the EC team to compete in the North Island Secondary School Champs in 2 weeks. He managed to do that.
Great to hear, I assume he is competing in U14 boys?
Is he going to have a crack at junior level at nationals in chch this year?