Hard work and determination paid off in bragging rights and high spirits at the Girls on the Run (GOTR, www.GOTRNebraska.org) 5K November 5 at Air Park in Lincoln. Mother Nature contributed to the successful event by providing an unusually warm and sunny November day.
Girls on the Run provides after-school programming that builds confidence, character and fitness in third- through sixth-grade girls. GOTR teams of 10 to 20 girls meet twice weekly for two months to complete an innovative curriculum that blends life-skills lessons with physical training to complete the season-ending 5K. Some 500 GOTR girls representing 38 teams from Omaha, Lincoln and southeast Nebraska, trekked three miles alongside their adult Run Buddy to receive a medal and other goodies at the finish line arch.
Three GOTR Graduates from the Blehm family in Lincoln were the lead bikers for the event. Two of the three siblings run track/cross country at UNL and recruited fellow teammates to run the water stop on the route. Another 100 volunteers came together to present the 5K, with members from Delta Kappa Pi at Doane University, Gamma Phi Beta at Creighton, and Delta Gamma, Pi Phi and Gamma Phi at UNL.
Feedback on the event has been overwhelmingly positive, and as many noted, the gorgeous weather was a major plus. The spring season begins in March at sites across Nebraska. Visit www.GOTRNebraska.org to bring GOTR to your school or to get involved.