GOTR Spring 2010

Go Girls Go!

Last week was the conclusion of the Spring season of our Girls on the Run of Springfield programs.  The Spring season was the 13th and “final” season for Girls on the Run of Springfield.  (Don’t panic…GOTR is not going away! J)  When the program was brought to Springfield, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Springfield generously offered to serve as our non-profit organization partner.  Since the first season in Spring 2004, the Boys & Girls Clubs provided GOTR the following:

 ·         Non-profit status required of all GOTR Councils

·         Insurance coverage through their policy

·         Administrative support for expense payments

·         Use of their copier for our program materials

·         Autonomy to operate and expand the program

 GOTR of Springfield is the only GOTR council in Central Illinois.  Without the support of the Boys & Girls Clubs, our community might not have established a GOTR council.  Our partnership enabled GOTR to impact the lives of over 700 participants.  Net is…our GOTR community is grateful to the Boys & Girls Clubs and their staff members.

 Effective July 1, 2010, Girls on the Run of Central Illinois will assume sole responsibility for the GOTR programs.  As the name change implies, the intent of the new non-profit organization is to focus solely on GOTR and grow the program throughout Springfield, Sangamon County and beyond.  With the new organization comes more resources (a 6-person board, more volunteers and, hopefully, a paid Council Director) to support program growth and insure program quality is maintained.  We are excited about the possibilities offered by the organizational changes and look forward to sharing our plans with you.

Spring 2010 Final Event

Over 50 girls and their running buddies celebrated the end of the season by running a 5K. Look at those awesome smiles!

So….let’s get to the highlights of the Spring season which included 9 program sites, 102 participants, 35 coaches and 10 running buddies:

My summary of the three things we do in GOTR programs is Run, Learn and Have Fun.  Based on feedback forms completed by the girls, site visits and coach comments, I can safely confirm that we successfully accomplished all three items.  Let’s take a look at each one.

Run:

The girls’ feedback form includes the following two questions:

·         What did you not like about Girls on the Run?

·         What did you like most about Girls on the Run?

Each season, I laugh when I read the responses to these questions.  About 1/2 of the girls answer the “not like” question with “I had to Run”.  About 1/2 answer the “like” question with “I got to Run”.  The thing I find humorous is that we don’t make the girls “run”.  We ask them to move (walk, skip, run, etc.) with a positive attitude.  Secretly, I think they all like “running/moving”….especially during their Practice and Final Event 5Ks!