The impact that
the Running School program has on
kids' cardiovascular fitness can be quantified by the
tracking of performance times for each student in
the half-mile distance race held four times per
year. While improving sprinting
technique and speed is important, as is helping fit children become even faster, we will place
particular focus on the large population of unfit
students who are in a “danger zone” revealed by the
2005 California Physical Education Health Project.
Here, 40% of California’s fifth graders were not
able to pass a basic aerobic fitness test,
identifying them as early at-risk for cardiovascular
disease.
Running School utilizes the scientifically
validated FITNESSGRAM testing protocol to measure
cardiovascular fitness with students. This program
was developed in 1982 (recently updated in 2005) by
The Cooper Institute in Dallas, TX to measure kids’
fitness with criterion-referenced standards called Healthy Fitness Zones, based on what is
optimal for good health. These standards are backed
by the highly respected FITNESSGRAM Scientific Advisory Board.
Running School will focus its
program and test on the critical aerobic capacity element of the FITNESSGRAM standards. Of the three
performance tests (body composition, muscular
strength/endurance/flexibility and aerobic
capacity), the Cooper Institute says that the
aerobic test is “perhaps the most important
indicator of physical fitness and assesses the
capacity of the cardiorespiratory system by
measuring endurance.” The FITNESSGRAM aerobic test
consists of a one-mile run, completed as fast as
possible. Healthy Fitness Zone standards have been
established for age and gender beginning at age ten.
Running School Half-Mile
Distance Race
The one-mile run test is not advised for
kids under ten due to the difficulty of children
maintaining motivation and pacing properly to obtain
an accurate result. Hence, there is no FITNESSGRAM Healthy Fitness Zone standard for under age 10. Consequently, Running School competitions will be held at the more suitable half-mile distance at elementary school campuses, while middle school students will contest the one-mile distance.
Half-mile times can serve as
accurate predictors of performance at double that
distance using the following rationale. First, a
statistical analysis comparing the times at
half-mile to one-mile for three different
performance levels indicate a
consistent performance
variation that can be applied to children (in the
obvious absence of any proven scientific study of
the
subject). The performance levels
measured for
both male and female were the world record holders,
the US national high school record holders and a
typical accomplished high school athlete qualifying
for a league championship.
Remarkably,
at all three
levels, male runners complete the half-mile in 45%
of the time they do the mile (adjusting for the more
common metric equivalent race of 800 meters). At all
three levels, female runners complete the half-mile
in 44% of the time they do the mile. Hence, applying
the same formula to a male youth runner completing a
half-mile race in 3:00 predicts a mile performance
of 6:40.
Furthermore, we can obtain a
valid prediction for the age-related improvements in
aerobic performance by comparing the progression of
the performance standards each year at various
nationwide Presidential Physical Fitness Test
percentile rankings. For example, an eight year old
performing at the 50th percentile
nationwide has a one-mile time of 11:05. A nine-year
old at the 50% percentile has a time of 10:30 –
representing an improvement of 9.5%. The 9.5%
improvement per year figure remains extremely
accurate for both boys and girls at all performance
standards from 25th – 95th
percentile. Note: For our schools at the 4,700' elevation level in the Carson Valley area of Nevada, we have adjusted all time standards by 3% to account for the altitude effect, per guidelines established by USA Track and Field for national championship qualifying standards.
Combining the half-mile-to-mile
performance prediction with the age-related
progression in performance, we have established an "on target" half-mile performance for each age
group to predict attaining the Healthy Fitness Zone
standard in the one-mile run test at age 10 for
boys and girls. Furthermore, we have converted
the national Presidents Fitness One-Mile Run
percentile rankings to half-mile performances to
give students an idea of their national
percentile ranking based on their half-mile race
times.The one-mile performance standards chart below is derived directly from the FITNESSGRAM standards and national Presidents Fitness rankings.
|
Performance Standards For Half-Mile Race |
|
|
|
|
based on National Presidential Fitness One-Mile
Run Standards, converted to half-mile race |
|
|
BOYS |
AGE |
|
|
|
|
|
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
|
HFZ "Passing Grade" Half-Mile |
7:15 |
6:37 |
6:03 |
5:32 |
5:11 |
|
HFZ Mile Time |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
11:30 |
|
50th percentile half-mile |
5:20 |
5:15 |
4:59 |
4:43 |
4:24 |
|
75th percentile half-mile |
4:54 |
4:31 |
4:13 |
4:05 |
3:45 |
|
95th percentile half-mile |
4:00 |
3:49 |
3:36 |
3:31 |
3:14 |
|
100th percentile half-mile |
2:50 |
3:27 |
2:55 |
3:04 |
2:53 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
GIRLS |
AGE |
|
|
|
|
|
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
|
HFZ "Passing Grade" Half-Mile |
8:05 |
7:23 |
6:45 |
6:10 |
5:30 |
|
HFZ Mile Time |
|
|
|
|
12:30 |
|
50th percentile half-mile |
5:54 |
5:41 |
5:30 |
5:13 |
5:00 |
|
75th percentile half-mile |
5:16 |
4:58 |
4:48 |
4:34 |
4:38 |
|
95th percentile half-mile |
4:27 |
4:11 |
4:02 |
3:40 |
3:34 |
|
100th percentile half-mile |
3:47 |
3:32 |
3:31 |
2:43 |
2:49 |
