Girls on the Run (GOTR) is a national nonprofit focusing on girls from third to eighth grade.
Ranata Johnson is a Board Chair for GOTR Southeast Washington and said they focus on working with girls to develop life skills while helping them with social and emotional learning. “We do that in a program that combines physical activity, integrating running and developing several life skills to help them become really strong, bold and courageous leaders for our community,” said Johnson.
Rae Lawrence has been a coach for GOTR for five years now and said they talk about things like conflict resolution, dealing with big emotions and negative self-talk. “They take what we talked about and we integrate that into physical activity that we are doing that day, so we get a chance to practice it,” said Lawrence.
Saturday, May 17 GOTR will host their 5K celebration in Richland. Johnson said the girls start by setting a goal in the beginning of the program, and the 5K is a way to celebrate the accomplishment that they have done.
“It’s going to be a great event because we have over 400 girls in our program this year,” said Johnson. “Every one of those girls has a running buddy associate with them so they have someone to run with,” said Johnson.
According to Johnson, GOTR Southeast WA has over 100 coaches in the program this year who are excited to cheer on the girls this weekend.
Taylor Cowell is a GOTR graduate turned coach and is looking forward to the 5K on May 17. “I know I was incredibly excited when it was my first time,” said Cowell.
