It’s called "Girls on the Run" but practice for the middle school girls on the Girls on the Run Heart and Sole team in Cornwall starts with socially distant team-building exercises.
Then it's on to the warmup. First it's pushups, followed by squats and superwomans. Then the running begins.
What You Need To Know
- Girls on the Run Hudson Valley operates in Orange, Dutchess, Ulster, Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties
- Girls in the program train to run a 5K race at the end of each season
- Due to COVID-19, weekly practices have been amended to facilitate social distancing. All practices are held outside and masks are required.
"I like Girls on the Run because it gets me outside more," said 5th grader Evelyn McMahon. "Whenever I was not in Girls on the Run, I was always inside not doing anything and my mom would always say 'go play outside' and I wouldn’t, so now it actually forces me outside."
But it's not just about learning to run. Girls on the Run wants the girls to come away with a stronger sense of self too.
"We do lessons about how to be a good friend, how to think about different aspects of your life, what you have in common with people," said coach Amy Stermer. "We talk about goal setting and running is part of that."
After the girls run, they’re given time to journal about the experience and find what they have in common with the other girls on the team.
"We really focus on five petals in our girl wheel," said coach Annette McTeague. "Body so that has to do with the running, but there's also brain, and spirit, and social and heart."