Girls on the Run 5Ks Wrap Up The Season With a Bang

Two girls participate in Girls on the Run 5k event
“My favorite part of Girls on the Run was learning ways to encourage others and myself,” one participant said.

Last week Girls on the Run of Northern Arizona (GOTRNA) celebrated the end of their spring running season with 5K events all across the region. Throughout the 8-week season, 44 girls and 20 coaches met virtually twice a week to connect with each other, be physically active, and learn critical life skills that will help them navigate life today, tomorrow, and beyond. The 5K celebrations allowed the girls and their coaches to come together in person for the first time this year as a team.

In addition to the events hosted at the teams’ schools, GOTRNA hosted a virtual 5K so grownups and kids alike all across northern Arizona could join the festivities to celebrate each and every girl in the program and their unstoppable strength, confidence, and resiliency.

GOTRNA has hosted a 5k every year since its inception in 2008, and the program’s coordinators first offered the virtual event last year so girls and their families could still commemorate the end of the season during the pandemic. GOTRNA is planning to return to in-person programming and events in the fall of 2021.

Participants of the virtual event were encouraged to complete the race on their own time and in their own place – their neighborhood, backyard or living room. Program coordinators hosted a kick-off event on the GOTRNA social media channels with a warmup and inspiration to get ready for the challenge.

Girls on the Run of Northern Arizona was founded in 2008 as an independent 501c3. In 2012, GOTRNA became a program of North Country HealthCare. GOTRNA serves girls in Coconino, Apache, Gila, Navajo and Yavapai Counties. Since its inception in 2008, GOTRNA has served nearly 3,000 girls across northern Arizona.

A participant shows off her medal
Each girl who participated received a bib and a medal.

More about Girls on the Run

Girls on the Run inspires girls to be joyful, healthy and confident using a fun, experience-based curriculum which creatively integrates running. Girls on the Run is a physical activity-based positive youth development (PYD) program that is designed to enhance girls’ social, psychological and physical skills and behaviors to successfully navigate life experiences.

The life skills curriculum is delivered by caring and competent coaches to girls in grades 3-8. Before the season, volunteer coaches participate in a National Coach Training Program, which prepares them to build relationships with girls, create a positive, inclusive environment, support individual improvement, and deliver the intentional curriculum.

The program inspires girls to build lives of purpose and to make a meaningful contribution to community and society. This comes to life through a key element of the Girls on the Run curricula when each team creates and executes a community service project. Every season concludes with a celebratory 5K event. Completing a 5K gives the girls a tangible sense of achievement as well as a framework for setting and achieving life goals.

To learn more about Girls on the Run of Northern Arizona, visit their website. To donate to the program, visit our donation page.



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