Former Professional Runner, Jamaica Plain resident and one of Boston's EXTRAordinary Women inspires girls to run the world!

Former Canadian National Team member, professional athlete and Jamaica Plain resident, Margaret Butler, now runs to inspire thousands around the world to run for girls’ education! On June 5th 2016, Komera will host the Komera Global Run in Jamaica Plain, MA along with Brooklyn, San Francisco, and Rwanda.

On International Women’s Day, March 8, 2016, Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced the winners of the EXTRAordinary Women Campaign, led by the Mayor’s Office of Women’s Advancement. Komera’s founder and Executive Director Margaret Butler was selected as one of the women that do extraordinary work within the Boston community.

In 2009, Margaret founded Komera, a non-profit focused on building self-confident young women through education, community and sport. She hosted Rwanda’s first ever girls’ only fun run in a remote village called Rwinkwavu in 2008. With over 400 girls running locally in Rwanda Margaret envisioned that one day she would inspire people around the world to run in solidarity with the Komera Scholars.

“This year, the Komera Global Run will be bigger and better than ever! We hope to have thousands of people running in solidarity with young women in Rwanda” states Butler. She will be running again this year in Rwanda with the Komera Scholars and hundreds of local primary school runners.

In Kinyarwanda, the local language in Rwanda, Komera means be strong and courageous. “On a daily basis, we ask the Komera Scholars to be strong and courageous; we will ask runners around the world to be strong and courageous as they run or walk!” Following her athletic career, Margaret Butler moved to Rwanda to follow her passion of international development, working with the Clinton Foundation and Partners In Health. As she ran the thousand hills of Rwanda, she realized that her running talents could be used to help thousands of young women around the world.

ABOUT THE KOMERA GLOBAL RUN

In 2008, Margaret Butler, Executive Director and founder of Komera and former professional runner, hosted the first ever girls’-only fun run in Rwanda. This was unprecedented in an area in which girls did not often run publicly, let alone pursue secondary education. The run is now held annually and has grown massively in scale around the world. Last year, 400 girls in Rwanda participated in the local fun run and received the support of the entire community who cheered them on.

This year's Komera Global Run Boston will take place at Jamaica Pond on Sunday, June 5th, 2016. Registration starts at 7:30am and the run begins at 8:30am. It will be a 1.5 mile loop that starts and ends at the Jamaica Pond Boathouse, where bags and belongings can be left during the run. There will also be a kids fun run at 9:00am. Join us in as we run in solidarity with the Komera Scholars. Go to komeraglobalrunboston.eventbrite.com to learn more about the event and to register!