Girls on the Run Kansas City: Inspiring More Joy, Health and Confidence in Our Community

Have you ever done something that completely pushes you outside your comfort zone? Think leaping from an airplane with only a parachute to keep you afloat or speaking to an audience of 400 people or even something as simple as saying hello to a complete stranger? Girls in the greater Kansas City metro area practice pushing outside their comfort zones and activating their limitless potential while participating in Girls on the Run Serving Greater Kansas City program.

Girls on the Run is a physical activity-based positive youth development program designed to develop and enhance girls’ social, psychological and physical competencies to successfully navigate life experiences. Girls in the third through eighth grades combine training for a 5K, or 3.1 mile, run with healthy living education. The character-building program instills self-esteem through health education, life skills development, mentoring relationships and physical training, all of which are accomplished through an active collaboration with girls and their parents, schools, volunteers, staff and the community. The goal of the program is to unleash confidence through accomplishment while establishing a lifetime appreciation of health and fitness.

Girls face social pressures and conflicting messages about how they should act and who they should be. Studies show that by adolescence, girls’ confidence drops about twice as much as boys’. Friendships become more complicated and challenging; girls’ perception of their academic ability declines, the likelihood of anxiety and depression increases and participation in physical activity plummets.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

Girls on the Run believes that every girl is inherently full of power and potential. By knowing they are leaders of their lives, these are girls who will change the world.

Since 2007, Girls on the Run KC has been empowering and developing future female leaders. The organization started with only seven girls and has grown to serving more than 14,000 girls in the last ten years. Girls on the Run KC serves 15 counties in the greater KC metro, expanding the empowerment footprint into neighboring areas.

These girls are redefining what it means to be a girl on their terms. After participating in the program, the girls stand up to bullies and show their assertiveness. They are more aware of their choices and how they affect those around them. They are global citizens and they know how to make their community a better place. ■

Written by: Gina Krahulik

Inspired by these girls?
Want to take action and get involved? Girls on the Run is powered by volunteers who serve as coaches and mentors to these aspiring leaders. Girls on the Run KC has two seasons, fall and spring, for coaches to lead and facilitate a ten-week curriculum that will change the girls’ lives forever. Become a part of this movement to make our community better by empowering our young women. Join today or start your own site by visiting gotrkc.org.