Girls on the Run

Earlier this week, I signed up for something I'm pretty excited about. Yes, it is a race (or two), I guess. But it's not really a race for me... It's for Girls on the Run, and it looks really fun. Here's a description of the program from their website:

“Girls on the Run is a twelve week program, consisting of twenty-four ninety-minute sessions. The curriculum is taught by a team of two to three coaches. All Girls on the Run coaches have been screened, interviewed and trained by Girls on the Run of Portland Metro, and all Head Coaches are CPR and First Aid certified. Coaches are required to adhere to the prescribed curriculum for each lesson.

The girls meet twice a week to participate in fun running activities that develop team cooperation, goal setting and leadership skills. The sessions incorporate focused discussions about critical issues that will affect the girls as they reach adolescence.”

I signed up as a "Race Buddy", meaning I only have 2 time commitments:

1. Show up on April 29th to meet my little running buddy. And what better way to get to know someone then to jump in and run/walk a practice 5K?! :)
2. Show up on June 5th to run/walk a real 5K with my running buddy at the Starlight Run!

Sounds easy enough. My only hesitation in signing up was that I am running my first half marathon the weekend following the Starlight Run, but I signed up as a 10 min/mi pace runner, so I hopefully won't be running at full speed!

In any case, I love kids, and this looked like a really fun and worthwhile cause to be a part of. If anyone out there wants to find out more about being a "Race Buddy" check out their website. And if you're interested in participating, just follow their registration instructions, as if you're registering for any other race! There is a background check involved, but all I had to do was print out the form, fill it out, and fax it in. Not too difficult. If you're going to sign up, though, you have to do it by April 14th, so hurry up!