Running routine with my 8 year old

I haven't been able to lately, but I've run with my kids in the past. My 8 yr old son could easily do about 1.5-2 miles at a slow pace, talking the whole time, hardly seemed like he was trying without any training at all except playing (he runs around outside a lot when he plays). Anything past 2 and he would start complaining.
So, I guess if I wanted to train my son for a 5k, I would run him a few times per week with me where he is already comfortable (1.5 miles for us makes a convenient loop), and after a week or two of that, increase one of the run lengths a bit at a time.

Both my kids struggle with maintaining a steady pace. Kids want to sprint then stop and hang out. That's not necessarily a big deal, but it is something I noticed was hard to do for mine.

That's great that your son wants to run with you!!!
I can get my son to run with me but my daughter acts like even the suggestion is pure punishment.
 
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I run with my two older sons who are 9 and 7. For each grade, they run for 5min. They also have pacing issues, especially the younger one. The younger one though acts like running is easier for him and he might be able to run farther and faster than his older brother if I let him. They both run barefoot. We will add on the third son next school year.
 
Thanks for the reply.

We live about 1 mile away from school, with the morning traffic driving driving & walking is the same time. I always want to walk with him but in his own words "I don't like walking, it slows me down!!". We started running to school (me barefoot, him in his school shoes) and I can tell he loves it. He bounces up and down, swings side to side when running, I know he is trying to run like the character in "Temple Run". He does like to sprint and gets tired after running a block, but I'm amaze that he recover in 10-15 sec.
 
My wife regularly takes my 8yo son and 6yo daughter on her 5km run, they ride their bike. My son runs with her when she does 3km runs. Would your son be content to ride alongside? Mine just love love getting out there with her.
I however max out at 2km running so I haven't taken them with me yet. I will stick with riding with them for now.
 
Just saw the Temple Run line, that made me laugh. I think the characters in Temple Run 2 have better running form, but I don't think I'd be recommending that one either. :)
 
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Would your son be content to ride alongside? Mine just love love getting out there with her.

Although I haven't run since the beginning of 2012 (in a nutshell, shoes destroyed my feet), my (now 11 year old) son used to run barefoot with me. He got up to six plus miles. Now, whenever we are out walking anywhere, he's running ahead of me...barefoot. My 7 year old follows him...barefoot too!
 
Congrats to Marcus!
 
We just completed a 5k run last Sunday. I'm proud that my son ran all the way without stopping, and we finished under 32 minutes.
Congratulations ! Kids at this age are great runners, much better than most parents think IMHO.