Program gets girls
running toward health

By Sharon Resnick

Fifth-grader Autumn Gross doesn’t consider herself a runner. But she joined “Girls on the Run” anyway. “I just wanted to accomplish something and be proud of it,” she said.

Since March 9, Gross and 12 other third-through-fifth-grade girls have met with mentors Eliza Lende and Patti Brown twice a week to work out, run and talk about how to eat, act and live in healthy ways.

“Girls on the Run,” which offers 24 lessons in 12 weeks, is an international program started in 1996 now offered at more than 150 places in the United States and Canada. The program culminates with a five-kilometer non-competitive run in May.

“Girls on the Run” was offered at only one school in Juneau last year. This year, in addition to Haines, it is available to students in Wrangell, Ketchikan and several schools in Juneau.

Its goal is “to educate and prepare girls for a life-time of self-respect and healthy living.”

“I like the mission,” said Lende. “I love running and I like building community through sports. This program is a positive way for third-through-fifth-graders to develop a stronger sense of self and to resist (unhealthy) peer pressure in junior high.”

The “Girls on the Run” website said its program found “two contradictory results” while doing research in the area of girls and sports.

“On the one hand, girls involved in athletics have higher self-esteem and engage in fewer risky behaviors than girls who are not,” the website said. “On the other hand, 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.”

The focus of the “Girls on the Run” curriculum is three-fold: self-awareness and knowledge; understanding the importance of cooperation with others and learning how to be an effective member of a community.

“It’s about learning to get along, even when you don’t want to,” Lende said.

In an effort to make the program as effective as possible, a pre and post-test is given to each participant to measure attitudes towards physical activity, self-esteem, eating attitudes, body image and communication.

AWARE of Juneau funds the local program and provides running shoes and snacks for all runners. Though there is a fee for the program, AWARE pays for those students who are unable to pay for any reason. Recently the Haines Emblem Club also donated $200 to the Monday and Thursday after-school program.  

Lende said it was easy to recruit girls. “All I did was put up a few signs.” Five out of six girls in third grade were interested and boys have asked about having a program for them too, she said.

“Girls on Track,” a program for sixth-eighth-grade girls, may be offered in the future.

As for Gross, she said that though she has learned a lot about healthy eating, the most exciting thing she’s learned is “how to pace myself.”

“Before, I used to just run as fast as I could and then I’d just walk.”

Jenae Larson, 11, cited the camaraderie of the group. “It’s good exercise and I like being with my friends. Plus, I get to walk home, so it’s a cool-down.””