Published by the DAILY RECORD of Morris
County, New Jersey
On Sunday, February 24, 2013
Copyright, Madeline Bost, 2013
If you’ve been to a number of 5K’s in New Jersey it very
likely that you have seen a flock of girls running in what appears to be their
very first race. They look excited,
tired, and exalted as they finish the race.
If so, you have been introduced to the Girls on the Run. If the girls don’t seem that fast then you
need to understand the program.
The Girls on the Run website states that the program is a
life changing character development program for girls from third grade to
eighth (sixth, seventh, and eighth grade girls are in the Girls on the Track
program).
The dynamic ten week program combines training for a 5k with
education and interactive discussions about critical issues that will affect
pre-teen girls as they reach adolescence. Trained volunteer coaches teach life
lessons to girls through fun and clever running games and workouts.
The goal is not to teach the girls how to run fast but to
help the girls to be physically, mentally and emotionally stronger and better
prepared to overcome the challenges and pressures of adolescence and beyond.
Ruth Dekker of
Chatham was a volunteer coach for two years and is now part of the paid staff that
is helping with the burgeoning programs in Morris County. Dekker had hands on experience as a volunteer
coach when her daughter Ellie was in the program. She’s also a runner who found the sport when
she was growing up and didn’t fit in well at team sports.
“People would say that I should play basketball like my
brothers,” she said. “I tried every
sport but I just didn’t have that kind of coordination. Then I started running.”
“Running was something that you didn’t have to feel like an
athlete or be super coordinated. I started
running with my dad and now I still run and I still compete in races,” said
Dekker. “I found it very therapeutic. I also found it was a good way to be part of
a team.”
“I found that running was good for my well being and my
sense of myself,” she said. “When I heard
about Girls on the Run I jumped on it.”
“The emphasis is not so much about running but it is more
about self esteem and running is a tool,” she said. “Whether you are an athlete
or not, that feeling of establishing a goal and crossing the finish line. It’s wonderful to see the girls do that.”
The spring programs will begin the end of March and will
culminate at a local 5K race. Each group
takes only 45 girls and they fill up fast.
The registration opens on March 1st at 9:00 a.m. and Dekker
expects that some of the classes will fill in just minutes.
To become a volunteer coach, or enroll a daughter you can find
more information at girlsontherunnj.org.
USATF LONG DISTANCE RUNNING MEETING IN ROCKAWAY ON THURSDAY
The USATF long distance running clubs will be heading to Rockaway
on Thursday for the much anticipated committee meeting. The attendees will be voting for or against the
implementation of eight proposed rules. More
accurately in some cases, the proposals are not rules per se, but methodology
in the scoring of the teams and the year end determination of how the teams
will be listed.
There will be plenty of debating on almost all of them, but
the one most hotly debated is likely to be the rule that would end the practice
of using the same runner on two different teams within a club. The so called “double dipping” has been in
existence since the inception of the team grand prix. It is considered essential to some clubs that
do not have a large enough base to fill out complete teams in an age division
without “borrowing” a runner from an older age division.
Location, directions and start time for the meeting is at
the website, usatfnj.org under Long Distance Running.
##
A calendar of USATF sanctioned events can be found at www.usatfnj.org or at www.raceforum.com for running and tri and
biathlon events.
Contact Madeline Bost at madelinebost@verizon.net.
No comments:
Post a Comment