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About Girls on the Run
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Our Programs:
Girls on the Run is a nationwide program that recognizes that every girl is unique, important and strong. It's about running, but it also teaches girls in grades 3 through 8 about health, friendship, body image, self-esteem, and community service. The Girls on the Run® curriculum, designed exclusively for pre-teen girls; includes warm-ups, running workouts and games which teach important skills such as how to make healthy decisions and how to resolve conflicts; prepares the girls for a 5k run/walk event; challenges and encourages the girls, whatever their fitness level; and provides positive peer group experiences and role models for healthy living. Girls on the Run of Western Colorado provides after-school programs for girls throughout Mesa, Delta, Garfield, Gunnison, Chaffee, Routt and Montrose counties. We offer 10 week sessions, with girls meeting twice a week for 75 minutes to prepare for a 5K run/walk and life in general. The program develops healthy physical habits as well as develops positive social and emotional life skills.
Girls on the Run is an after school program that uses the power of running to help prepare girls for a lifetime of self-respect and healthy living. Through interactive activities, such as running, playing games, and discussing important issues, participants learn how to celebrate being girls.The program focuses on building self-esteem and improving emotional and physical health. During the 10-week program, girls are empowered with a greater self-awareness, a sense of achievement, and a foundation in team building, to help them become strong, contented and self-confident young women. Each session is led by trained female coaches that guide and mentor girls through a fun and uplifting curriculum. Coaches teach specific life lessons such as dealing with body image and the media, resisting peer pressure, making healthy decisions and contributing to the community. Along the way, the girls train together to walk or a run a 5K (3.1 mile event). In the end, the girls leave with a stronger sense of identity, a greater acceptance of themselves, a healthier body image, and an understanding of what it means to be a part of a team, and a community.
GOTR sessions, led by volunteer female coaches, are 75 minutes in length – approximately 30 minutes each for the lesson and running, with 15 minutes for fun warm-up activities, running cool-down and snacks. Lessons cover subjects from eating healthy to good decision making, avoiding drugs/alcohol to relationships at home, goal-setting to community involvement. Through fun, interactive and non-competitive activities, the girls learn about themselves, about others and about community.
The dates, times and locations of our programs vary from site to site. Please click here to get information about programs in your area.
We also offer a summer camp for girls, as well as a Solemates, a FUNdraising running/training program for adults.
If you are interested in getting a program started at your school or in your community in Mesa, Delta, Montrose, Garfield, Gunnison or San Juan counties, please contact Program Director Melanie Steele or call 970.257.9267. If you are outside of these counties, but in Western Colorado, please contact Executive Director Jill Henwood, or call 970.257.9267 to get more information about your options in starting a program in your area.
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A Few Facts About Girls on the Run of the Grand Valley:
- Girls on the Run of the Grand Valley serves girls throughout Western Colorado!
- Our local programs began in the fall of 2000. Our number of participants has increased from 125 in our first year to 1490 participants during the 2008-2009 school year. We currently serve all the communities in the Grand Valley (Loma, Fruita, GJ, Orchard Mesa, Clifton and Palisade), as well as Delta, Hotchkiss, Paonia, Olathe, Montrose, Silt, Gunnison, Glenwood Spring, Rifle, Battlement Mesa, Steamboat (beginning in the fall of 2009), Salida and Silverton.
- We conduct programs at different elementary and middle schools and parks each fall and spring, in order to include as many girls each year as possible. (See our schedule for the upcoming year.)
- Our coaches are very well-trained and enthusiastic women who volunteer their time to the program because they believe in its ability to positively affect the lives of these young girls! (To volunteer, go to our Coaching Opportunities page.)
- We have many generous sponsors in Western Colorado and beyond, which allow us to keep the cost to the participants very low (just $40 per 10-week session!), thus enabling all girls with a desire to participate a chance to do so. (To become a sponsor, go to our Get Involved page. Click here to learn more about our current sponsors.)
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A Few Facts About Girls on the Run:
- The program started in the fall of 1996 with 14 girls at Charlotte Country Day School, in Charlotte, NC.
- Girls on the Run now has more than 100,000 participants across the US and Canada.
- The program has been featured in many publications including People Magazine, Runner's World, Running Times, Cooking Light, Daughters Newsletter, American Girl Magazine and Parents Magazine.
- Learn more about the national program at Girls on the Run International.
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