With the way some parents talk about how their child “got away” from them or how preschoolers “are so fast,” one must ask: Can a 4 year old outrun a typical adult?
I was inspired to cover this topic after reading about a four-year-old autistic boy who got away from his able-bodied parents at Home Depot.
Dad spoke to the media as though little Emerson was a shorter version of Usain Bolt, the three-time Olympic gold medalist in the 100 meter dash.
The parents were at the purchase counter when Aston reports he noticed a look on the boy’s face that indicated he was gearing up to run off.
Dad Aston is quoted: “You cannot try to run right up to him [to hold onto him] because he will just book it, so I am staring at him and he smirks and I just knew that he was gonna bolt.”
“Book it?” A four-year-old body can’t “book it.” To anyone unfamiliar with this phrase, it means take off in a sprint.
You might hear someone use this phrase upon watching a 100 meter dash event at a high school track meet.
Just how does a preschooler “book it”?
The news story then states: Aston took a step toward Emerson, and he was off down an aisle and out of sight.
The article then states: “He is incredibly fast,” Aston said. “While this isn’t unusual behavior for him, I rarely lose sight of him, and the sheer speed with which he disappeared left me stunned.”
“Sheer speed”? This is a child of only four years.
Go to a playground loaded with four-year-olds, even those five and six. See if you can observe any of them running at “sheer speed” or “booking it.”
When my niece was three, she suddenly took off running while her parents, grandparents and I were in a large lobby.
She ran in a straight line, and there were no obstacles – such as what you’d see at Home Depot – for her to run around (and thus “disappear”).
We all watched her with full visibility dart about 50 feet, then stop.
Any able-bodied adult walking backwards could’ve kept up with her.
If such a child darts down the nearest aisle of a retail store and thus, be instantly hidden from view, then of course they will suddenly “disappear.”
To some parents, the illusion of unbelievable speed is created by obstacles or barriers to vision, such as giant kiosks and store aisles.
Running Speed of Four-Year-Old vs. Typical Adult
At preschool age, kids are still developing coordination, muscle strength, stride length and endurance.
Most kids at four can “bolt” 3 to 5 mph.
To put this in perspective, 3 mph is a common setting for adult walking on a treadmill at a gym.
It’s well below the speed you’d walk to hurry across a parking lot in the rain.
Five mph is a slow jog. It’s what a beginner jogger would do outdoors or on a treadmill, and this includes older people and even obese people.
Unless an untrained adult has a physical disability, is exceptionally overweight or is wearing high stiletto heels, they can jog 5 mph for a short distance.
This is the top speed for the average child age 4.
Parents Unable to Catch Preschooler Who Runs Off
So let’s suppose Emerson booked it at 5 mph.
Why was this perceived as too fast for his parents, whose photos revealed average bodies (e.g., not too heavy to dash after the preschooler)?
It’s all an illusion; no child this age can come even close to outpacing a typical adult.
Average adults, even without training, can reach 8 to 10 mph over brief duration.
There are plenty of YouTube videos showing adults suddenly bolting into action during a crisis.
Their visible speed is well-beyond what even the most energetic preschooler could pull off.
But we don’t need the videos to understand that 8 to 10 mph is a helluva lot faster than 3 to 5 mph.
So how did Emerson “disappear” in the blink of an eye, then?
It’s simple: obstacles to direct line of vision. Home Depot, along with nearly any retail store, is chockfull of visual barriers.
All a young child do is head down an aisle, his body now instantly blocked from the parents’ line of sight, and POOF! He’s gone in an instant.
It’s not about speed; it’s about visuals. But for some oddball reason, parents attribute it to speed.
When my elderly-age mother and I go shopping, I swear, she’ll disappear in a flash if I turn my back for a split-second.
That’s because of visual barriers such as numerous clothing racks.
Do you not realize how easy it is for a slow-moving, elderly person to suddenly “disappear” amid a maze of clothing racks?
This has happened with my mother more than once, leading to me completely losing sight of her.
A 10 minute search will ensue, even though the entire time, it turns out she was just 20 feet away from me, hidden by clothing racks.
Emerson Even Outruns an Employee
The article continues: “At one point, my son was spotted but outran the employee trying to follow him, losing his [Emerson’s] shoes in the process.”
The shoes were Crocs. Wait, what? This throws a whole new dynamic into this offbeat story.
Just how fast can anyone run in Crocs?
Right now I’m picturing a four-year-old running his fastest in Crocs. He’s not running very fast.
And how could the employee get outrun by this preschooler? We don’t have details on the employee. Perhaps the adult was elderly or very heavy.
I myself absolutely cannot fathom being outrun by a four-year-old, and I’m 50+.
Now, if I turn my back on a moving preschooler, then all it takes is an instant for him to “disappear” – amid the store’s giant displays.
In an attempt to catch up with him, I might turn down the wrong aisle, while he’s down another aisle.
Losing him has nothing to do with speed; it’s all about my hit-or-miss selection of which aisle he might’ve gone down in a maze-like big box store!
Emerson was found within 15 minutes, safe and sound, though dirty from his exploits.
The article should’ve included a bit on the various connector devices that parents can use to keep their preschool kids – autistic or not – from running off. These devices can be wrist-to-wrist, waist-to-waist, or in the form of small backpacks.
