Can a distance runner also be a sprinter?

My 13 year old daughter is a distance runner. She runs the 800, 1600, 3000 and 5000. She has recently decided she wants to be a sprinter also. She did the 100 in 13.46 on her first try. Can she be both a distance runner and a sprinter at the same time or does she need to focus on one or the other?|||At 13, it doesn't matter. She should not be doing the training required to specialize in either. She should just be doing general training, working on form, and most importantly, having fun. At that age, she is too young and underdeveloped to truly focus on either.





At some point, she will have to pick if she wants to reach her full potential in either. But that shouldn't be until at least high school.|||If she wants to be competitive she'll need to focus on one or the other; Sprinters and distance athletes train very differently, and have different strengths.|||Yes she can but both involve different training.





Distance running people need great stamina hence they run for miles for practice in order to attain that. However sprinters practice for lower times and do workouts relating to building muscle.





Both types of people have different masses of muscle and hence do different trainign to get results. So its up to your daughter if she's up for the challenge. 13.4 is really good for her first try by the way...if she can decrease it by 3-4 seconds, she'll be better than the boys =]|||Wow thats impressive! Yes she can be both, she would be fit for sprinting and would be good in the 400. Im the opposite of your daughter, Im a sprinter and then switch over to distance in the fall for cross country.|||Yes. On my relay team (4 x 100m) , we have two distance runners and two sprinters. We usually have it so the long distance runners only have to run 90m though, since they have to concentrate on their long distance too. 13.46 is really good for a thirteen year old, by the way. : ) Good luck!