Girls on the Run

GOTR: my daughter's experience turned her against running about as much

I SURE hope your Diane is able to influence those kids in a more positive way. Most of my daughter's volunteer coaches were non-runners or extremely casual runners who did nothing to give my child a positive attitude about any exercise, much less running.
You jus help me make my decision on the GOTR thing and it's a big FAT NO.
 
I just showed Scedastic's experience to Diane and she realizes what an important responsibility she is undertaking. Tomorrow is her 6 hour training session, I'm sure she will get a much better idea of what's involved and how much freedom she will have in tailoring her program for success.
 
You jus help me make my decision on the GOTR thing and it's a big FAT NO.

Yeah but Dama I think what SCDT is saying is that the girls NEED someone like YOU to coach the program!
 
I just showed Scedastic's experience to Diane and she realizes what an important responsibility she is undertaking. Tomorrow is her 6 hour training session, I'm sure she will get a much better idea of what's involved and how much freedom she will have in tailoring her program for success.
You need to let us know how it went-please
Yeah but Dama I think what SCDT is saying is that the girls NEED someone like YOU to coach the program!
Well, now that you put it that way I should reconsider then.
 
Wow, I sure hope she can make a difference. Until now the only thing I knew about the program was that at a race I ran a few years ago there was a special GOTR race afterwards. I had never heard of it before, and neither had Diane who accompanied me to that race.
I'm guessing that if they let her do her thing as far as training the girls it will be good, but if it's some lame pre-programmed thing that she just supervises who knows.
I can't picture her artificially trying to boost some kid's self esteem by congratulating them for walking half the race unless they suffered from a true physical disability. Hope it all works out for her and the kids!


We received a booklet about the "curriculum." It was mostly about "girl" issues (how they feel about their bodies, how girls shouldn't gossip, how we all need to feel special, some corporate team building like activities). I wonder how much of it is evidence based. I wonder how much girls' attitudes on average are changed for the better about running? Do they track the girls who participate for risk factors later and compare with kids who participate in other sports instead?
I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist. I just get the idea that New Balance makes this a nice way to promote their shoes and to promote how they are helping the community or whatever. Maybe it was just the way the program was implemented in my area.

What I would like to see are grass roots or at least non corporate sponsored running/activity/sports clubs, similar to the swim club I have my kids in now, which has done a heck of a lot more for both my kids self esteem and feeling good about what their bodies can do. They are challenged, they work hard, the atmosphere is positive but focused, fun but conducive to learning skills. They even encourage kids to do core exercises and activities outside of swim to round out their abilities.

If there were something like that for running, where running coaches were free to follow a curriculum of, well, running. They could work on form, posture, how to train, track each kids progress in positive ways as they progress through to becoming a runner, so that they feel like they are becoming runners, ya know?
 
I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist. I just get the idea that New Balance makes this a nice way to promote their shoes and to promote how they are helping the community or whatever. Maybe it was just the way the program was implemented in my area.

You can bet your bottom dollar the concept came out of their marketing department - so your cynicism is probably well placed!
 
Looks Like New Balance is not a sponsor, at least not on the international level or here in Detroit.
http://www.girlsontherun.org/Who-We-Are/Our-Partners
Diane is at the all day meeting today. She's hoping to be able to run her school's program in a manner designed to encourage running and exercise in the girls rather than just a nonsense false self esteem club.
She went to the YMCA meeting barefoot, and does not plan on hiding her intention of training and running shoe less.
She brought along copies of Jason's as well as Ken Bob's books just in case they look at her like she's a total nutcase, and she has a few talking points ready.
"Why not just........."
"Because those shoes actually cause injuries and are VERY expensive....there's actually NOTHING barefoot about them at all"
"But neither the school nor the program can accept that degree of increased liability"
"You should speak with my husband, Dr. Adler. He's the President of the Michigan chapter of The Barefoot Runners Society. They have around 6000 members!"
In my opinion Scedastic is correct that the basic premise of the program is rather misguided.
They take it a bit too far...here is what they say on their page. I'm sure they could have had a few less headings and been a little more concise had they tried. Mission-About-Objectives-The Program-Vision-Core Values all seem to repeat the same buzzwords essentially.
Mission

To educate and prepare girls for a lifetime of self-respect and healthy living.

About

Girls on the Run® is a life-changing, experiential learning programs for girls age eight to thirteen years old. The programs combine training for a 3.1 mile running event with self-esteem enhancing, uplifting workouts. The goals of the programs are to encourage positive emotional, social, mental, spiritual and physical development.

Objectives

The objective of Girls on the Run is to educate and empower girls at an early age in order to prevent the display of at-risk activities in the future. At risk activities include substance/alcohol use, eating disorders, early onset of sexual activity, sedentary lifestyle, depression, suicide attempts and confrontations with the juvenile justice system.

The Program

Girls on the Run® is a 501(c)3 positive youth development program which combines an interactive curriculum and running to inspire self-respect and healthy lifestyles in pre-teen girls. Our core curriculum addresses many aspects of girls’ development – their physical, emotional, mental and social well-being. Lessons provide girls with the tools to make positive decisions and to avoid risky adolescent behaviors

Vision

  • To provide life-changing, high quality programs for girls
  • To provide life-changing and high quality experiences to the women developing and delivering the programs
  • To promote and provide an environment that allows girls and women to reach their full potential
  • To positively transform how girls and women perceive themselves and their place in society
Our Core Values

Girls on the Run honors its core values:
  • We live our lives with gratitude
  • We are honest
  • We maintain balance in our lives
  • We are tobacco and drug-free
  • We seek the positive in life’s challenges
  • We live outside the “Girl Box”
  • We are open-minded
  • We positively assert ourselves
  • We make our best effort always
  • We live with intention in the present
  • We strive to improve our self-awareness
 
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I don't see anything wrong with this organization, from an on-lookers point-of-view. I mean, I think they are well-intentioned. Sure, sh!t goes wrong now and again, and you got to call them out on it, but overall, their vision is a good one.

Also, correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think a shoe company founded this organization. Perhaps later they recruited a shoe sponsor (and other sponsors) when they found they needed some financial support, which is very common for a lot of well-known organizations to do.
 
If they allow Diane to train them as well as run barefoot then maybe even one person will learn that feet are much more capable then most people assume.
If any of the girls choose to run barefoot as a result and demonstrate that it works even for the beginner, all the better.
If a girl that was not going to participate decides to do so when she hears that it can be done barefoot, even better yet.
I guess if even one person learns to accept the concept as workable then it will have been worth her efforts.
What the majority of the girls end up doing with this opportunity to train for a 5K is what they put into it, with Diane's 35 years of teaching experience I know she will have done her job well despite any shortcomings with the program.
 
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O.K., just got briefed.
From her school there will be two other coaches, a social worker and another teacher. Both of them are runners.
The meeting was generic, and was geared towards the typical volunteer coach.....a non runner/non teacher.
The three of them were bored to death but only left one hour early.
In the smaller break-out group they ended up in the importance of the girls not wearing jeans for running was stressed....and that's about it.
The feet thing never was even approached since it was WAY more specific than anything else discussed.
Oh, and the race will NOT be held in Michigan's cold December as Dama had me predicting.
Late NOVEMBER in MI will be the race date.
And, it won't be until 10:00 A.M in Milford MI. Probably only wet and maybe 27 degrees F with a northerly wind.
If it were ME running I think for the 5K I'd be opting for my stretch jeans!
Now that'd be a site for the leader to see.........a dozen or so barefoot girls in tight jeans running the 5K and smiling all the way to the finish line.
 
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Probably only wet and maybe 27 degrees F with a northerly wind.

Sounds doable to me! :cold: (<---- Like the new Cold smiley? Hmmmm?) :coldfeet:
 
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One step at a time. First let's see how many girls actually sign up!
 
A lot of the core values fit in with barefoot running for kids


We live our lives with gratitude... Be thankful for what we have and the earth we walk on

We are honest... Honestly these are our feet

We maintain balance in our lives... Balance is found through barefoot running just show the posture pic with the heels and compare it to the barefoot posture and you can see balance restored

We are tobacco and drug-free... Check

We seek the positive in life’s challenges... It is challenging to be bf, but the rewards are so much stronger

We live outside the “Girl Box” ... Shoes with sparkles are not needed to be a fab girl

We are open-minded.... Yes

We positively assert ourselves ... Self confidence to be different

We make our best effort always... Yes

We live with intention in the present.... As a barefooted you have to be aware foot present in the moment to take the right step

We strive to improve our self-awareness... Aware of your body, the souls of your feet, looking out for TMTS

So you can build self confidence and fit young women in this way. I look forward to your group!
 
The following quote is from a 16 year old article. This coach and her girl's cross country team got it right way back then!

..."All of these girls get along so well together," McAden said. "I think that's one thing that's kept them motivated all year. They all seem to share each other's interests."
And that includes running barefoot........

Read the entire article here:
http://texnews.com/sports97/ahscc110597.html
 
My wife Diane signed up this week to be a coach for her school's Girls on the Run program.
It will be part of the larger Greater Detroit group and over 1000 girls will participate in the 5K race following ten weeks of training.
Her school's principal is well aware that Diane is barefoot in her classroom, and has observed her in bare feet outdoors all day during field day as well as other activities. Still, Diane reminded her that she will be running and coaching barefoot just to be sure before putting in the time and effort towards the required coach's training with the larger group. Her principal's response was "That's fine".
I'm hoping all will go smoothly for a successful experience for all involved, but I'm just wondering if she'll get any flack from the training program leaders or parents of the kids.
I can almost imagine some kids wanting to run barefoot and telling their parents that the teacher/coach always runs without shoes. I'm wondering if there are any complaints if the organization will back up her preference or interfere with it.
Should be O.K., fits right into their mission statement:
http://www.gotrdetroit.org/about-girls-on-the-run/
Time will tell, I'll report on any news.

I plan to be a coach for that same organization after I get out of college, as my schedule allows. I have already decided that if there is too much of a problem, I will just start my own organization! :) I actually have thought about starting a youth division of our Oregon chapter of the BRS, actually. But I can't get enough adults, so I would have to kidnap kids to get them to do it, so that would probably not go over too well.