I'm a Girl on the Run

For the past couple of months, I had the awesome opportunity to co-coach a team for Girls on the Run Salt Lake.  Girls on the Run is a program to empower young girls with lessons and get them ready to run a 5K when the program is over (December 1st-Reindeer Romp).  Our team consisted of about 8 girls, each of whom had a different personality and a uniqueness about them.

Running activity where we had them write
something on the poster each lap they completed.

At first I had a hard time.  I had another coach thank goodness, but we were both new to the experience.  After a few weeks though, it didn't seem so hard.  And luckily we bonded with the girls very quickly.  I loved every moment with those girls.

One of the activities where we had outlined each girl and
everyone wrote down positive things about each other.

The hardest part was sometimes getting the girls to pay attention and focus.  We were working with 3rd-5th graders and I'm sure the last thing they want to do is sit and listen to someone talk.  But we made the lessons fun and found that the girls did listen and did participate.  Some were more shy than others, but once the program ended I could tell the girls had changed, even if just a little.

I wanted to get the girls to love running.  At that age, running 3 miles is quite the distance.  We started with little running activities and eventually built them up to longer distances.  They were amazing!  The first time they ran a 5K I was SO proud.  They all made it.

When the actually race day came I was happy to see the girls ready to go and excited!  Our team was the Pink Panthers.  We made panther ears and my mom kindly made paw print gloves for each girl.  They were adorable.  

Pink Panther Coach!

Neither of the coaches ran in the race, but we cheered when we saw the girls running.  Then at the finish line I was able to hand out the medals and give each girl a hug.  Another moment where I was super proud of each girl.

Race day.  Go Pink Panthers!

Coaching for this program is an experience I will never remember.  It made me realize how much I love/miss coaching and how talented the younger generations are.  I feel like I made at least a bit of an impact on these girls and hope they enjoyed the whole experience and learned something new about themselves.

I'm not sure if I will coach for the Spring program, but I might consider being a running buddy instead.  I would love to be able to run with a girl and motivate her throughout the race.  I definitely recommend coaching or volunteering another way to anyone who might be interested.  It was worth every moment.  :)

Running is something anyone can do if they put their heart into it.

Runaway Girl