Trinity Part 2: Girls on the Run

Wow! So I am just now getting around to the second part of the post I decided to call "the trinity." I guess a lot has happened since October...

First Pres was part one. Besides working there part time, I have gotten involved with the church we sponsor, El Buen Pastor. Not only did we spend Thanksgiving there, but that is also where I tutor twice a week and where I had been coaching Girls on the Run. I sadly have to use the past tense because our culminating race was two weeks ago! The program spends 12 weeks training girls to run a 5k in addition to fostering positive self-esteem, body image, and health/nutrition issues with 3rd-5th graders.

Forsyth County has several sites training girls, but our program was slightly unique. Due to the economic background of this location's population base, we were a subsidized site (meaning the program was free for our girls, instead of the regular fee). After realizing that the girls were going to continue showing up in clogs, flip-flops, and other undesirable footwear, New Balance also comped each girl (and each coach!) a new pair of running shoes! We didn't have a track; we didn't all speak the same language; we missed several days because Election Day, Veterans' Day and other fall break days landed on Tuesdays or Thursdays.

But on December 6, our 11 girls, each teamed up with their very own adult running buddy, completed their first 5k (3.1 miles)! It was an amazing moment for all involved! The fact that they all showed up to the church at 7:15 am was the first hurdle. (OK - we had to call two of them, and they were 15 minutes late, but we all made it to the start line in time!) Sure, none of them had remembered to eat breakfast, so lucky for them I happen to have a stocked purse almost at all times. Four granola bars (two of them weren't mine, btw), a package of peanut butter crackers, and some dried cereal and raisins later, they at least had some sort of sustenance in their stomachs.

We had purchased hats, gloves, socks, fleece tops, and pants for the girls to wear - and just for fun, Coach Jenny bought reindeer antlers for the festive "Mistletoe Run." If nothing else, we were definitely the best dressed team!

Selena, my running buddy, finished in 34 minutes 37 seconds - which is an 11:09 pace. Not bad for a 9-year-old's first attempt. (And not that I had much to do with it, but she was the first girl on our team to finish! yea!) I had so much fun giving her tips, encouragment, and motivation along the way. Although, I did have to eat my words when the ultimate backfire occurred. Right as we were finishing up that last .1 mile, I said something about how her mom was going to be on the side, cheering her on through that finish line, and to think about how proud her mom was going to be, and on and on and on. We cross the line - where's mom? Nowhere to be found! Some 15 minutes later she comes strolling up to the group, (surprised we were finished), after having gone to get a cup of coffee at a nearby restuarant! Grrrrr! That was frustrating!

But at least she, like many of the other moms, was interested enough to come out on that chilly morning. It was actually really cute - I think we drove six of the moms with us so that they could come to the race too. Some of them had even taken off work so that they could be there! Luckily we had rented the church van...

It was such a great morning! Our last two girls finished in 54 minutes (we were hoping for under an hour), and you could just see the look of success on their faces - absolutely unforgettable! While running itself may not be for everyone, the sense of accomplishment you feel after finishing something you thought was an impossible challenge is unmistakeable. If nothing else, all I can say (in a chanty, cheery rhythm) is "Girls on the Run is so much fun!"