Music could be heard ‘round
Western’s Waldo Stadium in Kalamazoo, Michigan last Thursday evening as
thousands of third through fifth grade girls, their faithful coaches, parents,
and hundreds of community members prepared to run the 5K they’d been training
for since March. Traffic was blocked from the far-most right lane of Stadium
Drive, and proud parents, brothers, sisters, friends, teachers, and more lined
the streets to cheer on their runners.
With a “fun hair” station provided
for girls and coaches, pink, green, sparkling, and crowned heads littered the
football field as the girls stretched and jived to the beat of the music
breaking the hot air. Reminded often as they warmed up to drink water, the girls
were all smiles as they marched out of the stadium to take their marks.
Kalamazoo boasts the sixth largest
of 191 total Girls on the Run (GOTR) chapters in North America. Sixth place
comes from the outstanding 2,100 girls served during this year’s program. GOTR
Kalamazoo has not always been so large. When director of GOTR Kalamazoo, Sandy
Barry-Loken, attended the first Kalamazoo GOTR 5K in 2002 to support a friend,
only 350 girls were running. Even with so few, Sandy knew she had to be a part
of the program. “I really could see that they were about to take on a challenge
that was huge and to just watch them finish and to know what they accomplished
was amazing. And you could just see it on their faces that they felt like they
could do anything when they crossed that finish line.”
Nine years later, she’s “seen a lot
of changes.”
As word spread about GOTR, girls
poured into the program. “We knew we wanted to serve as many girls as possible,
and we took every girl who came.”
Every girl is right! “We have girls
from every ethnic background, from every socioeconomic status, because truly
our program is for all girls.” GOTR Kalamazoo in its 10th
anniversary race boasted a more diverse group of girls than the population of
Kalamazoo County itself. “We are in every type of school in the community.
We’re in public schools, private schools, parochial schools, we’ve had
home-schooled girls participating.”
To ensure a wide range of socioeconomic background in the
girls, a “sliding fee scale” of $0-$150 has been implemented. While GOTR
provides suggestions to families on how much they might contribute – based on
number of family members and family income – ultimately families determine what
is a reasonable amount they are able to pay for their child to participate. There
are no economic background checks or scholarships. Families simply pay what
they can.
The $150 fee per girl covers access to a special curriculum
targeted for the third-fifth grade girls, fees and dues to the national
organization, materials and supplies needed for lessons (such as orange cones
or lap counters), a brand new pair of running shoes, two t-shirts, a water
bottle, a healthy snack at every practice, a medal at the end of the race, and
the 5K participation fee.
Sandy attributes such a low cost to the help of community
members and sponsors. One such sponsor is Gazelle Sports. “They are a huge partner to our program.”
Gazelle provides a brand-new pair of running shoes for every girl as well as
fits them for the shoe via a combination of visiting low-income schools where
rides to open houses at the YMCA may not be available, and about 10 open-houses
held during a two to three week period at surrounding schools and facilities.
Their time is solely donated. “They don’t charge us to go and do that. That is
just Gazelle’s commitment to the community.”
While many community members support GOTR Kalamazoo with
money contributions, many more give time. Several hundred volunteers helped to
make the May GOTR 5K a success, whether by standing and cheering, announcing,
dj-ing, beautifying girls hair with ribbons and glitter, or running alongside
the girls as allies.
Among the many running alongside their teams was Jordan
Earnest, a Kalamazoo College sophomore. Jordan was an assistant coach at Woods
Lake Elementary. After 24 practices, Jordan was ready for her first GOTR race.
The 24 practices are part of a set
curriculum designed in 2001 by Dr. Rita DiGioacchino DeBate. In reviewing
academic research on girls and sports, Dr. DeBate found conflicting data concerning
self-esteem and athletics. While girls involved in normal physical activity
tend to have a higher sense of self-worth and are better able to avoid peer
pressures, girls involved in sports that encourage a small build may be at
higher risk of falling into the trap of disordered eating. This research helped
shape the curriculum for girls involved in GOTR, and thus instills messages
that squash this tendency. The curriculum is reassessed every two years to
ensure that what is being taught is relevant for girls today, and that new
information is included, such as new lessons surrounding social media and
texting.
The curriculum is well organized and provided for each coach
at each practice, but Jordan describes her practices as less official than they
sound. “It’s just based on - to get moving.” The attitude of the program might
sound strict or rigorous – training for a 5K, but Jordan explains, “we’re not
out to win anything, everyone gets a medal at the end. We don’t time anyone,
anything like that.” Rather than measure the girls times, the race is about
finishing and feeling empowered in their accomplishment. Physical activity is
an important part of the program, but so are other aspects, as Jordan explains
that it’s based on “feeling empowered in different ways.” At the end of the
day, Jordan explains that the teams, “pride ourselves with being healthy and
being healthy girls.”
On that hot May evening, it was clear to see the
empowerment, love, friendship, and pride felt amongst the thousands of girls
running throughout downtown Kalamazoo. The flood of pink shirted girls made it
easy to feel the urgency Sandy felt at her first race 10 years ago, “just from
the moment I saw them start running, I thought, this is amazing!”
