Girls on the Run Central Virginia and Blue Ridge is an after-school program for girls in third through fifth grade that aims to inspire them to be joyful, healthy and confident through an experience-based curriculum that creatively utilizes running” (1). Girls are placed on teams for ten weeks and they meet for around 90 minutes for “practice” twice a week on local elementary school campuses. During these practices, the girls eat snacks, review a lesson that is taught by a Girls on the Run trained coach and play running games that further reinforce that day’s lesson. At the end of the season, the girls complete a community impact project as a team and also run a Celebratory 5k with other Girls on the Run Teams from across the region. Girls on the Run Central Virginia and Blue Ridge includes the greater Roanoke, greater Lynchburg and greater Charlottesville areas in addition to Lexington and South Boston. In the past year, there were 61 teams in the region with a total of 849 girls involved in the program.
Participants and their parents will find that Girls on the Run is so much more than an after school running program that provides girls with a t-shirt and finisher medal. Rather, Girls on the Run is equipping the next generation of women with the skills they need to lead holistically healthy lives. By the end of the ten-week program, each girl has learned about how to combat negative self-talk, how to determine when to take a step back from a situation and how to build healthy habits in addition to other life skills. These life skills end up positively impacting a girl’s physical, emotional, social and mental health in both the short and long term.
One parent of a participant shared that, “Our daughter has loved Girls on the Run not only from a running perspective, which she has thoroughly enjoyed, but also from a social/emotional learning perspective. The other day she shared with me a story about a challenging situation with a peer, and how she handled it with a strategy she learned at Girls on the Run. She said ‘Mom, my coaches taught me that if I have a challenge I just need to Stop, Breathe, Think, Review, Respond, and you know what, it worked!’” (2).
Centra’s partnership with Girls on the Run has spanned multiple years with Centra awarding several grants toward the organization in addition to the time given by Centra Caregivers who have served as coaches and even on the Board of Directors. Girls on the Run’s Director of Development, Gwenn Cheatwood, shared that the most recent grant that Centra awarded to Girls on the Run went towards scholarships for students from Lynchburg City Schools. While there is a cost associated with the program, Girls on the Run believes that no girl who desires to participate should be prevented from joining a team. In essence, Girls on the Run would not be the program that it is today if only the girls whose families had the ability to pay were those who participated.
Girls on the Run Central Virginia and Blue Ridge is both grateful for the support that it has received from Centra and excited for the future growth of the program. As the effects of COVID-19 continue to lessen, Girls on the Run is hopeful that the number of girls in the program in addition to coaches from the community will continue to increase in 2023. Centra views each of its community partnerships as strategic, and Girls on the Run is no exception. Just as Centra is committed to improving the health and quality of life for the communities it serves, Girls on the Run is committed to this same mission through its pursuit of inspiring girls to live joyful, healthy and confident lives.
Learn more about community partner Girls on the Run CVA on Centra's & so much more podcast