With a child of my own interested in running a marathon, I researched marathon training programs for youth in the US (there are some!), injury rates and how these compare to high school running programs.
Here's a summary of references for the post. You may be interesting in the first two, a sort of meta-analysis and the second one, a podcast interview between two pediatricians on the topic. One concludes "I have more concerns about some of the cross country runners and the volume that they do as opposed to people who are running a marathon... if it's done properly it could be safe."
If there are other useful journal articles on the topic I missed, link them in a comment below. Thanks!
References
- Beyond the Finish Line: Examining the Role of Children in Marathon Races. From March, 2024, it's a great introduction to related scientific studies, reviewing a number of prior studies with cited sources.
- Should Kids Run Marathon? Pediatric Sports Medicine Podcast episode with Dr. Mark Halstead and Dr. Joel Brenner in 2022
- Review of 26 years of youth marathon data from the Twin Cities Marathon by William Roberts
- Girls suffer more overuse injuries in teen sports
- High school cross country running injuries: a longitudinal study
- Youth Marathon Training: Injury Epidemiology & Risk Factors by Joshua Goldman in 2019
- Running Marathons in High School: A 5-Year Review of Injury in a Structured Training Program