Girls on the Run helps girls grow confidence

It’s about more than just exercise.

For girls in the Lincoln Trail Girls on the Run program, it’s more about spending time with friends and discovering that anyone can do something they didn’t think they could do.

After parent requests, Lincoln Trail sponsors decided to host the non-profit Girls on the Run program three years ago. The group follows the Girls on the Run curriculum, which not only teaches the value of running as a lifelong activity, but also teaches girls about body image, their emotions and friendship.

“It’s all about having the girls look within, accept themselves, how to make themselves happy and deal with different emotions, accepting one another and how to deal with negative situations,” Girls on the Run Sponsor Kayli Elliott said. “It’s been a great program for the girls by building their emotional intelligence.”

Meeting twice a week from September to early November, the girls are encouraged to talk about different topics with other girls and to play games or activities before heading to the playground to run laps for 20 or 30 minutes.

“We talk about pacing and when we are out in the field,” Elliott said. “Ten laps around the field equals a mile. So we aren’t going to spring, we go slow, and if we need to, we walk a lap.”

“We just ask them to keep going more and more each time.”

On November 4, the 44-member Lincoln Trail Girls on the Run squad will join other local chapters at the Stephens Family YMCA to complete their 5K run/walk.

Fourth-grade students Brooke Rhodes and Hannah Martin participated in Girls on the Run in 2017. While both girls joined last year to run, they returned for a second season because they enjoyed the camaraderie.

“It was really fun working together in running last year,” Rhodes said.

“My first year I thought I’d be really behind, but I still did it anyway,” she said. “This year I feel confident and I can get it done faster because I’ve had more practice.”

Martin did not think that she could complete the 5K as a third-grade student, but because “my friends and my coaches pushed me and told me I could,” she reached her goal.

“It helps me feel proud of myself and to know I can do things when I accomplish my goals,” she said.

Aubrey Watson joined Girls on the Run as a fourth-grade student because she saw how much fun her classmates were having the previous year.

She, too, was doubtful that she could complete the 5K, but found encouragement from her friends.

“I didn’t think I could do it, I thought it was too far, but my friends told me I could do it and I learned that if I keep trying then I can do it,” Watson said.

“Each time I run, it makes me more confident.”

The Girls on the Run celebration on November 4 is a non-competitive untimed fun run.  People of all ages and abilities are invited to run, walk or skip alongside our Girls on the Run girls.