Girls on the Run Complete 5K at Anne Arundel Community College

“The most important thing about a 5K is to stay motivated or you’ll start walking and feel more tired,” observed 9-year-old Nina Encarnacion of Belvedere Elementary in Arnold. “It’s hard to start running once you’ve taken a break to walk.”

She should know. She successfully completed a 5K race that left her spent but fulfilled. “I feel tired, but I’m really proud of myself,” Nina said.

In a country where children’s required amount of physical education dwindles but poor nutrition and sedentary living increases, young people face more obstacles in their development into healthy adults. Add to the mix girls’ social and emotional pressures, including unhealthy body issues and low self-esteem, and the path to adulthood becomes trickier to navigate.

Enter Girls on the Run of the Greater Chesapeake, a chapter of the national Girls on the Run nonprofit organization, which hosted its largest 5K to date. Almost a thousand girls, boys, parents, coaches and supporters turned out to run, walk or cheer at the race that took place at early in the morning on Saturday, May 21.

The race was the culmination of a 10-week training program in which 450 girls participated. During their semiweekly training meetings, Benfield Elementary Coach Kim Chappell said, "We talked, maybe about avoiding gossip, then we jogged or walked."

“It’s about being the best woman possible and building life skills. By the end of the program, the girls are more accepting of other girls; they’re different," continued Chappell. "We started the Girls on the Run Program there two years ago. It’s a great organization. It’s not a club—it teaches girls to think outside the box. Molly Barker’s curriculum is great.”

Molly Barker founded Girls on the Run, which launched in 1996, to “educate and prepare girls for a life-time of self-respect and healthy living … with life-changing self-esteem lessons that enhance social, physical and mental health in 8- to 12-year-old girls.”

Several of the coaches at Saturday’s event had high praise for Barker and her organization, but Barker humbly brushed off the credit and recognized the coaches as the ones breathing life into Girls on the Run.

“The coaches are the lifeblood of all of this. If not for the coaches, then I’d just be the author of a book sitting on the shelf and none of this would be happening," said Barker. "And remember, these coaches are all volunteers.”

Girls on the Run is a well-rounded program that takes into account many aspects of young girls’ lives, and the program resonates with students. According to St. Mary’s Coach Kathy Burke, “Several of the eighth graders here today have done the Girls on the Run program since the sixth grade. All of the coaches are volunteers. Each of us meets with the girls for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, twice a week. We focus on body, mind and spirit to show that running is part of being a healthy, out-of-the-box girl.”

Students from Sunderland Elementary participated in its second Girls on the Run 5K yesterday.

“This is a new program in Calvert County,” Coach Amy Shannon explained. “This is our second season at Sunderland. It’s such an outstanding program. I love seeing the smiles at practice all season and even more at the 5K at the end of the season.”

For more information, visit Girls on the Run of the Chesapeake.

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