In the Girls on the Run program, grade-school girls don’t just build up speed and endurance. They also build up self-confidence, relationships and other life skills vital in the transition to adulthood.
Registration for Girls on the Run (GOTR) Northeast Ohio, which includes Summit County, began Monday and will be open until Sunday.
“Girls on the Run is not a running program,” said Robyn Cutler, the executive director of Northeast Ohio GOTR, which started in 2007.
Instead, she said, small teams of girls meet twice a week over the course of 10 weeks to develop and improve competence, confidence and character while learning to treat everyone with care, create positive connections and make meaningful contributions to society.
During each hour-and-15-minute session, the girls play a game that moves them around the track while teaching them important life lessons. Girls can run, walk, skip or hop their way around the track as they learn about the importance of a healthy lifestyle.
GOTR is for girls in third through fifth grades and aims to guide them into the formative teenage years.
Heart and Sole, an arm of GOTR, takes the same approach with girls in sixth through eighth grades while teaching them more about the body, brain, heart and spirit in a way that transitions them to adulthood.
Cutler said Molly Barker, the founder of the national GOTR program, struggled with self-esteem issues throughout adolescence. She found empowerment through running in adulthood, and she decided to found a program for girls so they wouldn’t have to face the same difficulties she did growing up. Barker started the program in 1996 in Charlotte, N.C.
“Girls handle their issues different than boys do. It just seems like the journey is just a bit harder for girls because the expectations are so high,” Cutler said. “Girls need to know their beauty comes from the inside and they don’t need to be so concerned about how they look on the outside.”
At the end of the program, the girls will run in a noncompetitive 5K race May 20 to show off the endurance they’ve built up over the few months.
“Beauty does come in sweat,” Cutler said. “That clarity one gets and that sense of achievement is really like nothing else.”
The Northeast Ohio chapter of GOTR serves about 2,000 girls in Cuyahoga, Lorain, Medina, Portage and Summit counties each year. There are 32 sites in Summit County this year.
Cutler said girls are never turned away based on financial need. Registration is typically $150 and can be as low as $10. GOTR’s registration page includes fee guidelines based on family income.
This year’s spring program begins March 6. Registration includes 20 lessons conducted by certified GOTR coaches, a T-shirt, participation in the GOTR 5K, a water bottle, a healthy snack at each practice and a 5K finisher’s medallion.
Cutler said although some girls enter the program with little experience in sports, many end up uncovering a love for running. Above all, though, the greatest transformation Cutler sees is in the girls who end up finding their voice along the way.
“We have a lot of retention and I see a tremendous amount of change in these girls,” Cutler said.
Theresa Cottom can be reached at 330-996-3216 or tcottom@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @Theresa_Cottom .