PHOTO BY TERESSA JOHNSON

Dressed in tutu’s, snow boots, and even Halloween costumes, more than 50 Girls on the Run participants and their families gathered around a fire pit at Swiftsure Ranch on a frosty Saturday morning.

Snow was falling when over the runners took off on the ranch’s 5K nature trail, their Girls on the Run capes that said “Running is my Superpower” flying behind them.

“It is so much more than a running program,” one parent shared. “The girls build community with their team, while learning about what makes each of them beautiful and unique.”

During the Fall season, 31 girls in third- through fifth-grades were enrolled in the program at three different school sites across the valley. The girls were led by volunteer coaches through a social emotional learning curriculum that uses running as the method for teaching.

Teams met twice a week for nine weeks throughout the season with their volunteer coaches to discuss topics such as their inner voice, expressing emotions, words matter and compromise.

The program culminated with this past Saturday’s non-competitive 5K that celebrates the girls and all of the growth they have made over the season. The girls had trained for the 5K all season long, even as they learned life skills.

Girls enrolled in the program learn to recognize their inner strength and celebrate what makes them one of a kind.

“The program has such a transformative impact on the girls involved. Many parents share how their daughter is more confident, doing better in the classroom and has blossomed into the young lady she was always meant to be,” shared Teressa Johnson, the Executive Director of Girls on the Run Southern Idaho. “A parent shared this season that her daughter's attitude is improving. The family had noticed it themselves, but it was when her daughter's 10-year-old friend asked if Girls on the Run was the reason that her attitude was changing for the better that they truly realized the positive impact and power the program was having.”

Want to learn more about Girls on the Run? Visit: https://www.gotrsouthernidaho.org.