After 10 weeks of work, the girls run away. And their parents and coaches are happy to watch them go.
They’re members of Girls on the Run, a nationwide running program for third- to eighth-grade girls, and by the end of it, they’ve also been empowered to work toward their goals.
The national organization website says it all: “We believe that every girl can embrace who she is, can define who she wants to be, can rise to any challenge, can change the world.”
Excited to Join the Group
Several area school districts have arranged to offer the program for their girls, including Avon, Manchester-Shortsville, Seneca Falls, and Livonia.
“It is not a running program, but rather, it uses running as a means to an end,” says Kristi Hughes, head coach of the program for girls in the Avon area.
The program meets twice per week for 10 weeks. Each 90-minute practice incorporates physical activity with a lesson on healthy topics like nutrition, communication and decision making. The 30-minute run portion of the meeting also incorporates friendship and positive reinforcement.
“The girls might have to run a lap and after each one do a different task like give a compliment,” says Amy Walton, K-12 school psychologist at Manchester-Shortsville Central School District. “The curriculum is fantastic. The final event is a 5K run put on by the Girls on the Run of Greater Rochester.”
Schools have strong and growing participation rates. Fifteen of about 75 eligible girls participated in the first round of the program, offered to third- through fifth graders, at Red Jacket Elementary School.
“We had 28 girls participate and had two teams (our first year),” says Kim Doell, program coordinator for the Seneca Falls School District GOTR.
“Our second year, the word got out how fun it was and we had 50 girls sign up at the elementary level. Since many of our girls had moved up to the sixth grade, we also started a program for girls at the middle school. We had 13 girls enroll there. This year’s enrollment was 45 girls for the elementary and 10 at the middle school.”
Everyone in on the Run
The effect of a common healthy goal builds stronger individuals and gels teamwork. Kristin Snyder, who started the program at Livonia Central School District, says in end-of-season surveys, every single participant said they would participate next year and will recommend the program to a friend.
“I absolutely see the girls’ confidence and courage grow,” Snyder says. “When asked what they learned, their statements included, ‘I learned how to handle life’s issues. I learned how to make friends. I learned how to stick up for others.’”
It isn’t just the girls who grow. Coaches and parents start living healthier, too. Betsy Brown, GOTR assistant coach at Avon Central School District, says one of her favorite moments from the season was watching as every girl crossed the 5K finish line.
“I think the best part about the program was how I felt after each session. Everyone left sessions recharged and positive,” Brown says.
“I relearned how to stay positive and keep pushing forward. The girls showed me that in every session, when they would take negative statements and turn them to positive, or when they would set a running goal, and rather than just meet it, they would exceed it.”
Staff also found personal fitness motivation through the program. Doell says Deena Swenson, one of Seneca Falls’ GOTR coaches who is also a teacher in the district, signed up not having run since college. She was determined to train alongside the girls.
“At our practice 5K she came across the finish line and burst into tears,” says Doell. “We were all cheering for her and hugging her, and she was so proud of her accomplishment.”
Seneca Falls GOTR requests that a parent run the final race with their daughter. A buddy can also be found. A mom who had never run was worried about this.
“She wouldn’t take the easy way out. She decided that if her daughter could do it, she would, too,” says Doell. “She took the program guide that we give parents, and followed the training schedule.”
Mom and daughter finished the race together and went on to run five more races that summer.
“At the next year’s Parent’s Informational Meeting that we hold in the spring,” says Doell, “this mom told us, ‘I had nothing in common with my daughter. She was struggling in school to make friends, and I didn’t know how to talk with her about it. Running has given us something to do together and I am so eternally grateful for this program. It has helped me not only become healthier and lose a lot of weight, but it has taught me and my daughter to have confidence that we didn’t have before.”
