Girls on the Run of Greater Sacramento

Girls on the Run of Greater Sacramento - over 20 years of empowering our region's girls! 

Girls on the Run International was established in 1996 in Charlotte, North Carolina by Molly Barker.  What started with thirteen girls in one school has grown to over 200 councils in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.  Our local council, Girls on the Run of Greater Sacramento, began in 2002 with two coaches and one team of girls.  With the help of a generous community and hardworking volunteers, GOTR Sac now serves over 650 girls each year in our 4-county region (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo counties).

Girls on the Run is a nonprofit after school program that improves the health and well-being of girls ages 8 to 13 years old.  Girls on the Run combines a professionally designed curriculum with a 5K training plan that together encourages girls to develop self-respect and make healthy decisions.  The Girls on the Run program consists of two age-specific options: Girls on the Run for 3rd - 5th graders, and Heart & Sole for 6th - 8th graders.  The girls meet twice a week after school for the duration of the 10-week season and begin their meetings with a healthy snack, followed by the curriculum or lesson for the day, an activity that gets them warmed up physically and mentally, and finally the workout. Workouts progressively increase throughout the season to help participants build up the endurance they will need to complete the end-of-season 5K event.

The curriculum is broken up into three sections:
- Building a better understanding of who they are individually and what's important to them.  During this section they discuss issues such values, healthy eating, and handling stress.
- Learning the importance of teamwork and healthy relationships, including some of the difficult dynamics that happen in a group, such as bullying and peer pressure.
- Exploring how the girls can positively connect with and shape the world.  In this final section, they work together as a team to plan and execute a community impact project.

The goal is to encourage the girls to think about needs outside of their own, and to show them that despite their age, size, income, or gender, we are all capable of helping others.  At the end of each 10-week season, the coaches along with their teams have addressed critical issues that pre-teen girls are starting to face.  The season culminates with a community service project that the girls design and execute, as well as participation in an organized 5K event.  GOTR encourages positive emotional, social, mental and physical development in girls that will last throughout their lives.