With the wind at their heels and a bounce in their step, participants of Girls on the Run (GOTR) have found a new training ground in Point Loma and are determined to show the world they are committed to a race for their lives.
Established in 1996, Girls on the Run is a life-changing national nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering girls ages 8 to 13 to make healthy choices in their lives, develop leadership skills, and increase self-confidence and self-respect.
Beginning Monday, Girls on the Run will fire the starting gun on a new leg of sessions at the former Naval Training Center’s Liberty Station Park. And while Girls on the Run is headquartered in Downtown, other sessions around San Diego are also slated for the fall.
The all-volunteer program is designed to help girls before they encounter what Molly Barker, four-time Hawaiian Ironman triathlete and national founder of GOTR, calls the “girl box ” that place where society, peers, and even parents sometimes direct young women. It is a place where girls think they are judged on a superficial level only, said Barker.
Barker said when she was 15, the “girl box” made her believe that the way she looked was more important than who she was inside and that being a woman meant keeping emotions like anger to herself and that having a boyfriend meant giving up part of her own identity.
“As they approach their teens, girls often lose their tomboyish personalities and become more self-critical and depressed,” said Barker. “Through its focus on positive emotional, social, mental and physical development, GOTR has helped more than 30,000 girls gain a strong sense of self as they enter adolescence.”
Programs are 12 weeks long and combine training for a 3.1-mile running event with self-esteem- enhancing workouts. Participants complete the program with a stronger sense of identity, a greater acceptance of themselves, a healthier body image and an understanding of what it means to be part of a team.
“In 1994 I began work on what was to become the GOTR program, but the concept was born long before that,” said Barker. “It was born in eighth grade when a boy in my class told me with disgust that I looked like a boy. It was born when a young woman, weighing 85 pounds and starving herself, told me she needed to lose weight to be beautiful. It was born when I took a pregnant 13-year-old on a long walk in the woods.”
GOTR is one way to provide pre-adolescent girls with enabling tools to embrace their girlhood gifts as they enter middle and high school. The objective is to reduce the potential display of at-risk activities among its participants. The goal is fewer adolescent pregnancies and eating disorders and less depression and suicide attempts, as well as fewer substance/alcohol abuse problems and confrontations with the juvenile justice system.
“I was so glad to hear that GOTR will be running at Liberty Station this fall,” said Kim Primerano, founder of the GOTR San Diego chapter. “In the spring session, the girls met great new friends all while learning about such valuable topics like health, nutrition and self-image, so I am thankful that GOTR provides such a wonderful environment and opportunity for the girls in Point Loma.”
Primerano, an ex-Marine Corps officer, became involved because she realized that she could give back by volunteering. Since 2005 she has lead GOTR in San Diego and is proud to once again serve her country at Liberty Station Park. New Point Loma sessions will take place from 4 to 5:15 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays beginning Sept. 17.
Other GOTR fall season locations include The Children’s School of La Jolla, Carmel Valley Recreation Center, and in San Marcos at Twin Oaks Elementary.
GOTR is currently accepting applications for participants and volunteer coaches. Coaches attend a one-time training and do not have to be runners themselves. The only requirement is that they be enthusiastic and committed to the healthy development of young girls.
For more information about Girls on the Run, including how to sign up or volunteer, call (760) 586-7952, or visit www. www.gotrsd.org.