By Elizabeth Sims
Enterprise Editor

Despite sub-freezing temperatures and rain just beginning to fall, Galatyn Park in Richardson is packed with people ready to participate in the eighth annual Gobble Hobble 5K on Nov. 23.

In the middle of the pack, a group of elementary and middle school-aged girls, wearing bright orange shirts and an assortment of tutus, funny hats and warm gloves, giggle and chat excitedly. They dart back and forth between their friends and groups of women, wearing the same bright orange shirts, as they wait for the event to start.

This group of young girls makes up the Dallas-Fort Worth branch of Girls on the Run. Pioneered in 1996 by Molly Barker in Charlotte, N.C., this organization was founded to provide elementary and middle school-aged girls with the skills they would need to navigate their experiences throughout their lives while giving them a physical outlet.

 Over the course of 10 weeks in the fall or spring, these girls are taught these skills while simultaneously training for a 5K at the end of “season”. By combining running with a curriculum focusing on life skills, Girls on the Run has worked to empower girls in the United States and Canada over the past 17 years.

In 2005, the DFW branch of Girls on the Run was founded to continue the mission of the original organization with the same

standard curriculum. Dallas resident Laurie Mitchell, the executive director for the DFW branch, started out as a coach in 2008 and fell in love with the program.

“I’ve been a lifelong runner, and that is how I initially became involved with the program,” Mitchell said. “When I saw that it was about so much more and about the girls, I just fell in love with it. After I coached my first season and saw how much the girls changed and learned, it made me want to be involved that much more.”

The DFW branch encompasses Dallas, Tarrant, Rockwall, Denton, Collin and Grayson counties, with small groups in the cities throughout these locations. The Coppell group functions through the Coppell YMCA. Coppell resident Valerie Watson has served as the coach for this group for the past two seasons and uses games to help the girls learn the lessons while training.

“[The girls] think we’re playing games, and that’s the best part of it all. They think they are running a lap and answering a question to win the game that we’re playing, but really what they are learning are these different lessons that we are teaching them,” Watson said. “It teaches them to have a healthy mind and healthy body.”

These games have been a favorite among the girls in the group.

“My favorite part was that we got to do our fun games after we warmed up in a circle and before we exercised,” fourth grader Abby Hendricks said.

In addition to learning their lessons and running, the girls also performed community projects to teach them to importance of giving back. One of the most memorable times was visiting the  Coppell Fire Department to give the firefighters baked goods.

“Everybody had to bring cupcakes, cookies or muffins and we went to deliver them to the firemen as something to help because they save our lives sometimes and they loved them,” fifth grader Carly Duperrior said.

To complete their season, the girls participated in the Gobble Hobble 5K. This drew families together from across the country to celebrate their accomplishment.

“I was really excited because I got to run with my best friends and grandma from California came in and she sat on the sidelines and cheered for me when I got to the finish line,” Duperrior said.

This also gave the girls the opportunity to show their parents how far they had come. For Hendricks, this was her third time to run the race with her mother.

“This was my third time to run this race and my mom usually runs with me and I go little bit faster than her,” Hendricks said. “I was happy because my dad could wait for me at the finish line and then I could wait for my mom and cheer for her.”

The 5K at the end of each season is one of the cornerstones of this organization and serves as a way to drive home the ultimate message of the program.

“When you push yourself to do something you didn’t think you could, it’s just a huge self-esteem booster,” Mitchell said. “Even if

they never run again after this, they can apply all the lessons they have learned to run the 5K and other aspects of their life, whatever their passion may be. That’s the bottom line of what we are trying to do: build self-esteem and healthy attitudes.”

Not only are the girls changed by their participation in this program, their leaders are equally touched by the opportunity to get to know the girls and work with them. Juniors Jessie Cranmer and Emily Dunn served as junior coaches this season after being recommended by their former cross country teammates 2013 Coppell High School graduates Katie Sandfort and Ali Ische.

“This was not just something for my college application. I really wanted to have a leadership role during high school because I’ve never really considered myself a leader or someone to look up to,” Dunn said. “I just got to love on the girls and step up and lead them. The girls really look up to you and they freak out if you miss a week because they missed you.”

For Cranmer, this was an opportunity to give back to the organization that she was involved with in elementary school.

“It’s kind of funny actually because I did Girls on the Run in third grade. They didn’t have junior coaches when I was in it, and I thought it would be cool for the girls to get a different perspective than just from the adults and to connect with more,” Cranmer said. “It was a little awkward getting to know them at first but now I am babysitting two of the girls.”

Seeing the girls complete the 5K left a lasting impression on Cranmer as she continues to run on the cross country team.

“I run a 5K every weekend for competition in cross country and I don’t really talk to the other girls, I just race them,” Cranmer said. “But to see these young girls running together made me realize there is so much more to running than just a competition in high school.”

The participants and their mentors cross the finish line together and celebrate their accomplishments with high-fives and warm embraces. After 10 weeks together, these young girls and their mentors have come long distances not only in terms of their running abilities, but in their confidence and friendships.