Thread: Sprinting vs. Pacing?

I'm 12 years old, and I should I sprint a mile or pace it? When I pace it, I get around 8 - 9 minutes...which isn't very good for me >< But when I sprint it, I get around 7 minutes.
Also, I'm not a very good distance runner. I can only sprint very fast, but not for long D:
How I run:
Sprint 1st, 2nd, and first half of 3rd lap.
Then, walk last half of 3rd lap.

Sprint 4th lap and I'm done.
Yeah, I noticed that when I paced..I was passing a lot of people on the 2nd or 3rd lap :]

When I was in the Army and we went on 3 mile runs, I would come in first every time because I'd pace myself steadily while everyone else sprinted at the start, then I'd pass them all up one by one. They'd be wheezing along and I'd come in first. Sprinting burns a heck of a lot of energy, and the longer the run is, the more that works against you.

Pace yourself kid you will get better at it and you wont have to stop on the 3rd lap

hey im also twelve and was in track for 2 years and this is what you do:when you start pace when you hit the first corner speed up and every corner you hit speed up a little because the people who ran their fullest will be tired.hope that helped bye

is this a race? um do the faster thing then...but cant you run maybe a faster run but not a sprint but do it consistently. they way u run the mile is extremely ineffiecient. you need to learn to keep a fast pace