GOTR - Learn, Dream, Live, Run

How does Girls on the Run of Portland Metro work?
Girls on the Run is a twelve week program, consisting of twenty-four ninety-minute sessions. The curriculum is taught by a team of two to three coaches. All Girls on the Run coaches have been screened, interviewed and trained by Girls on the Run of Portland Metro, and all Head Coaches are CPR and First Aid certified. Coaches are required to adhere to the prescribed curriculum for each lesson.

The girls meet twice a week to participate in fun running activities that develop team cooperation, goal setting and leadership skills. The sessions incorporate focused discussions about critical issues that will affect the girls as they reach adolescence.

The curriculum is divided into three parts:
Part 1: Understanding your "self" and setting personal goals
Part 2: Learning skills to foster team building, cooperation and leadership
Part 3: Examining relationships to the community, including development and implementation of a community service project

Every lesson focuses on a specific issue-related topic and follows a five-part format that provides consistency and structure for the girls’ experience:

Introduction: As the girls arrive and settle into a circle, the coaches check in with each girl and discuss the plan for the day.

Getting on Board Activity: The Getting on Board activity is a game that introduces the day’s topic and helps to focus the group.

The Warm Up: The warm-up is a brief activity or game that energizes the girls and warms up their muscles. The Warm Up activity is usually a short interactive running game that incorporates the lesson topic for that day. After the activity, the coach leads a stretching session, during which time the group begins to discuss and “process” the topic.

The Workout: The amount of running during every workout varies on each girls’ ability, pace and their stage of progress. The workout gradually builds up to a practice 5K run/walk midway through the season, which gives the girls the confidence to participate in actual 5K community run/walk at the end of the season . The workout also involves the “topic of the day”. For example, in the session on positive attitudes, each girl is asked to make a positive statement about herself to the coach each time she completes a lap and reflect on it during the next lap.

The Wrap-Up: The cool-down and stretching period is where the girls do group processing and discussion. Each session ends with positive reinforcement from the coach, a group cheer called “Energy Awards” and a healthy snack.

Program Effectiveness
Girls on the Run International contracted with Rita DiGioacchino DeBate, Ph.D., MPH, CHES, now a professor at the University of Central Florida, to perform formative impact evaluations in 2001, 2002, 2005, and 2006. The evaluations assessed the Girls on the Run program and how well it meets stated objectives by using a pre-post/post-test that measures attitudes toward physical activity, self-esteem, eating attitudes, body image, and communication. In 2006, 293 girls participated in the evaluation.
Through the evaluations, Dr. DeBate has found that the Girls on the Run curricula result in statistically significant improvement in girls’ self-esteem, body size satisfaction, and physical behaviors. Dr. DeBate also found positive changes regarding attitudes towards physical activity, health behaviors, and empowerment.

Why Girls on the Run?

Girls who participate in physical activities are 40% less likely to smoke, have higher levels of self-esteem, better body images, and lower levels of depression.

Girls who have experienced emotional trauma respond positively to physical fitness programs.

Girls who participate in physical activities are less likely to engage in risky sexual behavior during adolescence.

Girls who participate in physical exercise have better relationships with parents, get better grades, are less likely to use drugs and are less depressed than girls who don't.