Girls on the Run® councils across the United States and Canada serve girls in their local communities under the umbrella of our parent organization, Girls on the Run International. Girls on the Run Puget Sound’s 20-lesson curriculum is designed for 3rd – 5th grade girls and combines training for a 5k run with lessons that inspire them to recognize and honor their individual strengths and talents and to celebrate their inner selves. The culminating event of the 10-week season is the opportunity for the girls to participate in a non-competitive 5K running event. For most of the girls, this is the first time that they have ever attempted a physical goal of this magnitude and completion of the 5k provides an incredible feeling of strength and a real sense of accomplishment.

The curriculum is designed to aid and support girls in their emotional, physical, social and intellectual development.

Expectations

Girls on the Run promotes physical, emotional, social and intellectual development in 3rd through 5th grade girls. The girls complete the 10-week program with a stronger sense of identity, greater self-confidence, a healthier body image and a better knowledge of what it means to be a member of a team and a community.

Curriculum Structure

Each of the 20 Girls on the Run Puget Sound sessions adheres to a formal structure that combines physical activities with experiential learning activities. The curriculum:

  • guides an experiential learning program for 3rd-5th grade girls;
  • is innovative, research-based and designed exclusively for pre-teen girls;
  • includes running workouts and games that teach important life skills;
  • prepares the girls for a 5K run/walk event;
  • challenges and encourages each girl, whatever her fitness level; and,
  • provides positive peer group experiences and role models for healthy living.

The curriculum is divided into three parts that foster healthy growth in each of these areas.

The first part provides the participants with opportunities to:

  • Gain an understanding of themselves
  • Identify their own individual strengths and abilities while setting personal goals
  • Explore the importance of being physically, mentally, and emotionally healthy
  • Examine their own core values and what makes them unique

The second part provides the participants with opportunities to:

  • Explore getting along within a group
  • Learn active listening and confrontation/assertiveness skills
  • Recognize the importance of “positivism” in standing up for one’s self
  • Examine the components of good decision-making skills

The last part provides the participants with opportunities to:

  • Explore their responsibility to the community;
  • Analyze the cultural and social messages girls receive in the media and other institutions
  • Examine their own stereotyping and discriminatory behavior
  • Define community and their collective and individual roles in it
  • Create and implement a community project
  • Be empowered to change their environment in a positive manner.

Each lesson is divided into activities with specific functions to enhance the learning process, and is structured as follows:

  • Getting on Board and Warm-Up Activity – brings the girls’ focus to the day’s lesson topic and usually is a short game to get the girls’ cardio-respiratory systems warmed up
  • Processing and Stretching – an opportunity to stretch after the warm-up and provide a question and answer session about the topic to help the girls make connections and apply them to their lives
  • Workout – running workouts, games, and activities that utilize a personal and/or team goal to keep the physical activity fun
  • Processing, Cool-down and Stretching – review and discussion of the day’s lesson
  • Wrap-Up – closes with positive words from the coaches about individual and group behaviors

Sample Lesson

Academic Evaluation:

Girls on the Run International has evaluated program efficacy since 2001. Girls on the Run is currently the only positive youth development program for girls with evidence-based results. Rita Debate, Ph.D., MPH, CHES, developed a formal evaluation tool entitled ‘Girls on the Run: An Assessment of Self-Esteem, Body Image and Eating Attitudes.’ Our evaluation is based on established and well-known measurement tools including the Rosenburg Self-Esteem Scale, Child/Adolescent Silhouette Rating Scale, and the Children’s Eating Attitude Test.

Prior to our program evaluation, the academic research in the area of girls and sports reflected two contradictory results. Girls involved in athletics have higher self-esteem and engage in fewer risky behaviors than girls who are not. Conversely, girls who become highly competitive in some sports (such as running, figure skating, gymnastics and other sports in which slim body images are admired) have a higher incidence of eating disorders than girls who are not involved in such sports. This poses a dilemma that the Girls on the Run® curricula address.

Unlike traditional athletic programs, the Girls on the Run curricula couple physical activity with a whole-person philosophy to provide the positive benefits of physical activity without increasing the risk of unhealthy attitudes about body image and eating. Evaluation results show that participation in Girls on the Run improves girls’ self-esteem, body size satisfaction, and physical activity behaviors to a statistically significant extent. Also noted are positive changes regarding attitudes towards physical activity, health behaviors, and empowerment.

Measurable Results

2011 Academic Evaluation
2007 Academic Evaluation
2006 Academic Evaluation
2005 Academic Evaluation
2002 Academic Evaluation