Boy, 10, who runs 25km like an adult has brutal routine that's sparked outrage

A young runner’s training routine has proven divisive after going viral on social media. Ivan Blanco Estrada, 10, shared his training plan in an interview after recording a remarkable time during a 25km run.

Blanco, from Spain, explained that he had completed the distance with an average of 4:57 minutes per kilometre, giving him a time of just over two hours. This would be an impressive time for an adult running enthusiast, but reaching those times as a 10-year-old captured the attention of the athletics world.

The young runner from Malaga admitted that his 5km personal best was 17:25 minutes, averaging a remarkable 3:29 minutes per kilometre. However, his focus on training sparked concerns from several professional runners.

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Explaining his daily routine, Blanco told Vitamin Well: "I do a core and upper body workout with hip mobility. Then I have breakfast, train and eat lunch, then train again, have a snack, and go to bed." In terms of his preferred meal on race day, he replied: "Rice with beetroot."

When the interviewer asked how they could begin to run like Blanco, he said: “You have to be consistent, train every day, and have a passion for this sport.” His passion for running was clear as he admitted to asking for an ice bath to help his recovery after earning good grades at school.

While many may see Blanco’s dedication at an early age as the path to a professional running career, Spanish long-distance runner Carles Castillejo disagreed and shared his concerns about Blanco’s routine, as per Marca: “It’s madness to run those distances for a body that is still developing.”

Fellow long-distance runner Chiki Perez agreed with Castillejo, warning that it could have the opposite effect: “When he really has to train hard, he’ll hate athletics.” They were joined by 1500m runner Agueda Marques, who questioned the wisdom behind allowing a 10-year-old to have such a strenuous workout plan.

"These training loads and everything they entail put enormous stress at that age on a 10-year-old child,” Marques said. “There is a very high probability that this story will end badly.”

However, not all professional runners agreed that Blanco’s routine would harm his development. Marathon runner Yago Rojo commended Blanco on his approach and compared his dedication at a young age to 1500m star Jakob Ingebrigtsen.

“You couldn’t be more phenomenal,” Rojo said of Blanco before supporting his approach to training. “Not everything that is out of the ordinary must be dangerous.”

The viral video ended with the interviewer predicting that Blanco had “a bright future ahead”. It remains to be seen whether his training programme will result in a professional running career.

The current 5km world record is held by Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei. He recorded a time of 12:35.36 minutes in 2020 during an event in Monaco.

The best standalone time for a 25km run was recorded by Kenya’s Daniel Ebenyo, with a time of 1:11:13 in 2023. However, his countryman Eliud Kipchoge clocked a faster 25km time of 1:11:08 during his victory in the 2022 Berlin Marathon.