Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Nov. 23--Erin Musson volunteered to teach running skills to elementary school girls thinking she would be doing all the teaching. Musson never expected she'd be learning about herself and her own goals.
"You learn just as much about yourselves," she said.
Musson volunteers with Girls on the Run, a nonprofit group that pairs adult women with girls between the ages of 8 and 12. The aim is to instill self-confidence in the girls, many of whom are looking at entering middle school in the coming year, said Kelly Hurter, the executive director of the Triangle Chapter.
"Our goal is to use the power of running and walking to change the way girls view themselves," Hurter said.
In between practice runs that take place twice a week, the girls and their adult coaches talk about self-worth, values and pressures they'll face in the future.
The Triangle chapter of Girls on the Run is one of about 125 across the U.S. and Canada. The umbrella group, Girls on the Run International based in Charlotte, was started 10 years ago by Molly Barker, a marathon runner and Ironman triathlete. The group's mission: "To educate and prepare girls for a life time of self-respect and healthy living."
The Triangle chapter has groups of 14 girls that meet at more than a dozen locations across the region. The chapter is looking for adult volunteers for its spring season, which starts Jan. 29 and lasts 12 weeks.
Volunteers, who devote two to four hours a week to the program, are not all experienced runners. All types of women, from stay-at-home mothers to professional women to college students, help out, Musson said.
For participating girls, the cost is $175 but scholarships are often offered. Girls of all shapes, sizes and athletic abilities take part.
"All we ask of them is that we challenge them," Hurter said.
At the end of the 12-week program the girls participate in a 5-kilometer run or walk. Close to 200 girls will be running in the Dec. 16 New Balance Reindeer Romp being held at the SAS Soccer Park in Cary.
"They learn about who they are," said Musson, who volunteers at a program at Glenwood Elementary School in Chapel Hill.
-----
Copyright (c) 2006, The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
