My guest blogger today is 9-year-old Peyton Saltmarsh. He’s a highly competitive athlete and an age grouper on the NH Seacoast. Peyton enjoys soccer, baseball, football, basketball and playing the piano in addition to running. These are his thoughts on the principles of training and racing- in his own words. Marathoners, take note of number 7.

“Lots of people can run. It is very fun and you can let yourself be free.” – Peyton Saltmarsh

Peyton’s 10 Rules of Running

Running is competitive. But, if you don’t want to be competitive, you can run for fun. When you are a kid, you can beat adults! But, some adults will still beat you. Like in all things, you will get better if you practice. If you run more than 3 times in a row, you really have to rest. You should not always run really fast if you are practicing. You have to stand up straight and do not swing your arms in front of your body. If you cry, you have to slow down and stop crying. Then focus, and run again. You eat really good foods like salads, fish, veggies and fruit and sleep longer to get stronger. When you race you go fast, but don’t start out too fast. At the end you went to give it your all and sprint. You have to believe in yourself.