Girls build friendships through running

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it photo Cold weather pushed Girls on the Run practice into the gymnasium at John Weldon Elementary School. The Francis Howell school is the first in St. Charles County to have the program.

By Kalen Ponche
Tuesday, March 11, 2008 12:07 PM CDT

Caty Truber, 9, never liked group sports. They were too competitive, too intimidating.

But last summer, Caty started running. First it was just a few times a week after school. Then she ran on weekends.

By November, she completed a 5K race with hundreds of other girls her age. Running, she learned, was a great stress reliever."It just gets things off your mind," she said. "I think it's really fun to run because you can just go by yourself. You can go with a group of friends."

Caty and other girls from John Weldon Elementary School made up the first group from St. Charles County to participate in Girls on the Run, an international program designed to promote fitness and self-esteem in young girls.

The program was launched in Charleston, S.C., eight years ago and has grown to include girls in 150 cities.

Jill Ineovino brought the Girls on the Run franchise to the St. Louis area in 2002 and now serves as executive director for the region. Now more than 20 St. Louis schools participate in the semi-annual 3.1-mile race.

"It grew by word-of-mouth," she said. "People would hear about the program, either a motivated teacher or parent who says, 'Hey, I really want this at our school.'"

The coaches follow a standard curriculum that combines games and running to impart subtle lessons in respect and teamwork. The goal of the program is for the students learn to value themselves from the inside out, Ineovino said.

"It's more powerful to train and work your body and work toward a goal than to be skinny and fit into a pair of jeans," she said. "Girls, as they enter that middle school age, start valuing themselves on what other people think or what they're doing. We really want the girls to be true to themselves."

Denise Daab volunteered to bring the program to John Weldon Elementary School in 2007. Initially, 17 girls signed up for the program. Throughout the season, more showed an interest.

"We had girls coming up to us midway through, asking, 'Can I please do Girls on the Run?'" Daab said.

The girls worked continually to increase their mileage during the twice-weekly practices and on their own time.

"We do a lot of fun games and activities so the girls don't even know they're running until they are actually putting in some miles," she said.

Caty Truber saw the benefits of running after the race was over. For the first time she could swim three laps in a row without stopping.

"It made me feel good about myself because I knew I was getting faster and better at running," she said.

Coaching character

Cindi Crigler, principal at John Weldon Elementary, said that over time it's become more important for schools to teach lessons that go beyond the classroom.

"It's become more important to do that as we see more and more kids have problems with self-esteem," she said.

John Weldon Elementary has followed a character-plus program for several years that promotes respect and responsibility. The school also hosts gym nights for each grade level throughout the year.

Crigler said she's seen the girls who have participated in Girls on the Run last fall become more outgoing with their peers.

Tracy Schad said both her daughters, Shelby and Marissa Rosi, made new friends through the program and learned just what they could accomplish.

"(Shelby's) developed friends," Schad said. "She's seen that not everybody's there to pick on you. She's shown herself she could do it."

Both Shelby and Marissa signed up again for a second semester of Girls on the Run, along with eight girls who were part of the initial group. Five new girls also signed up for the program.

'We're Girls On the Run!'

After school on a chilly February day, 15 girls gathered inside a John Weldon Elementary classroom to play getting-to-know-you games.

But some girls were antsy to get started.

"When do we get to run?" one yelled.

Soon, the girls bundled in scarves, gloves and hats and started running around the soccer field.

A few of them sang the Girls on the Run song as they ran:

"Everywhere we go,

People want to know

Who we are,

So we tell them,

We're Girls on the Run

And we like to have fun!"

For more information on starting a Girls on the Run program at your school, go to:

www.girlsontherunstlouis.org.

Ineovino said if a few more schools in St. Charles County sign up, then there could be a second 5K race in St. Charles County.