{"id":19300,"date":"2023-02-08T00:02:12","date_gmt":"2023-02-08T00:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=19300"},"modified":"2023-02-07T21:07:36","modified_gmt":"2023-02-07T21:07:36","slug":"inspiring-others-through-girls-on-the-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/08\/inspiring-others-through-girls-on-the-run\/","title":{"rendered":"INSPIRING OTHERS THROUGH GIRLS ON THE RUN"},"content":{"rendered":"

By MIKE MCKENNA<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"We could all use a good coach and some solid teammates in our corner\u2014people to help us chase our dreams, work through the tough times and share those magical moments.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what makes Girls On The Run (GOTR) Southern Idaho so special. The mission of the nonprofit is to \u201cinspire girls to be joyful, healthy and confident.\u201d They do so by creating small teams that train for, and then compete in, a 5K together.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal of our programs is to boost girls\u2019 self-confidence and empower them to lift themselves up and help lift up others,\u201d Teressa Johnson said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Teressa is the executive director for GOTR Southern Idaho. She took over the role last year, after serving as the youth director for the Wood River Community YMCA for half a dozen years. GOTR first got on Teressa\u2019s radar when she lived in Colorado, but didn\u2019t have the time to get involved back then. The Oregon native has always been an avid runner\u2014her mom has long been a high school track coach\u2014and truly appreciates the full range of benefits the sport offers. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI love running and all it involves and sharing that passion with others through Girls On The Run,\u201d Teressa said. \u201cIt isn\u2019t just about training girls to run; it\u2019s about learning life skills and learning about themselves and learning how to be a good friend.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

GOTR was founded in 1996 with just 13 girls. Over 2 million girls have now been involved, making GOTR\u2019s annual 5Ks one of the largest running events in the world. It has also been recognized as being one of the most influential after-school programs in the country for health and wellness.<\/span><\/p>\n

GOTR offers programs for girls in grades 3\u20135 and 6\u20138 and junior coaching for high school girls aged 16\u201318. They run programs for six weeks each fall and spring, ending in a celebratory, noncompetitive 5K. GOTR offers scholarships and can even provide running shoes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Volunteers and coaches (who don\u2019t have to be runners, or female) are always welcome and are the heart of the organization. Teressa knows first-hand how rewarding the experience of being involved in GOTR is and explained that coaches are \u201cthoroughly trained so they can feel confident and comfortable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to training for the 5K, the teams also do a service project. Last fall, they put up posters with positive messages at Ernest Hemingway Elementary School in Ketchum. The students and staff there loved them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt showed the girls how something that seems so small can have a positive impact and help change the world,\u201d Teressa said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

LUNAFEST<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

A film festival dedicated to promoting awareness about women\u2019s issues, LUNAFEST is a fundraiser to help support the important and impactful work that GOTR does. It will be showing at The Mint in Hailey and at the Orpheum Theatre in Twin Falls on Thursday, Feb. 16 at 5:30 p.m. Purchase tickets, make a donation or find out how to volunteer or register a girl to be a participant at GOTRSouthernIdaho.org or call (208) 788-7863.<\/span><\/p>\n

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By MIKE MCKENNA We could all use a good coach and some solid teammates in our corner\u2014people to help us chase our dreams, work through the tough times and share those magical moments. That\u2019s what makes Girls On The Run (GOTR) Southern Idaho so special. The mission of the nonprofit is to \u201cinspire girls to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10323,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70,38],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19300","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chamber-corner","8":"category-sponsored"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19300"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19300\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19302,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19300\/revisions\/19302"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}