We just finished up Girls on the Run this fall with the Girls on the run 5k. I love being around the girls. They are all so full of positive energy that it makes my day better and they have such an innocent, refreshing perspective on all things. I like every one of the girls very much and I would be hard pressed to find 14 adults that I like.
The girls learn more than just about running- they learn about confidence and just being good people and also they learn through running. Like learning to have goals and how to achieve them and believe in yourself and your friends. How to work together and how to get along.
When you are nine years old a 5k probably seems as long as the 50k seems to me now. They run the 5k at the end of the program and they spray paint their hair and wear stickers and get prizes at halfway and finishing. All of our girls had running buddies so I headed up front and found some girls who didn't have anyone and ran with them. They were two best friends and I was surprised by how fast they were running as they were both very short and tiny. They sprinted and walked, but only for a little bit as they were very competitive and as soon as anyone caught up with them they'd be off sprinting again. On the way back one of the girls was feeling better than her friend and would sprint while the other walked, then walk while the other sprinted to catch up with her, usually getting so tired in the process that she'd have to walk again. I tried to suggest that they run a slow pace together but they were too competitive for that! They held hands though and the girl in front encouraged her friend not to walk anymore until they were done. They were tough girls and ran the rest of the way and finished together holding hands, then said to me- we would have been lost without you.
You do a lot for the girls when you volunteer with them but they do a lot for me. If the kids are around I know I have to be in good role model mode. But it is not like a hardship- they make me want to be better. I know what I would say to any of their problems and it is what I should say to myself about my own problems too, and when I'm around them it's so much easier too. You can learn best by teaching and I can learn to be a good role model for myself when I have to be for others.
The girls learn more than just about running- they learn about confidence and just being good people and also they learn through running. Like learning to have goals and how to achieve them and believe in yourself and your friends. How to work together and how to get along.
When you are nine years old a 5k probably seems as long as the 50k seems to me now. They run the 5k at the end of the program and they spray paint their hair and wear stickers and get prizes at halfway and finishing. All of our girls had running buddies so I headed up front and found some girls who didn't have anyone and ran with them. They were two best friends and I was surprised by how fast they were running as they were both very short and tiny. They sprinted and walked, but only for a little bit as they were very competitive and as soon as anyone caught up with them they'd be off sprinting again. On the way back one of the girls was feeling better than her friend and would sprint while the other walked, then walk while the other sprinted to catch up with her, usually getting so tired in the process that she'd have to walk again. I tried to suggest that they run a slow pace together but they were too competitive for that! They held hands though and the girl in front encouraged her friend not to walk anymore until they were done. They were tough girls and ran the rest of the way and finished together holding hands, then said to me- we would have been lost without you.
You do a lot for the girls when you volunteer with them but they do a lot for me. If the kids are around I know I have to be in good role model mode. But it is not like a hardship- they make me want to be better. I know what I would say to any of their problems and it is what I should say to myself about my own problems too, and when I'm around them it's so much easier too. You can learn best by teaching and I can learn to be a good role model for myself when I have to be for others.
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