Community Corner

Girls on the Run Equals Girl Power

The 5K run takes place Sunday, May 19 at Woodstock High School.

Girl Power will be on display when 820 girls from throughout McHenry County run, walk or skip in the Girls on the Run Northwest Illinois signature 5K run.

Sunday’s run is the culmination of a 10-week program aimed at building girls’ self-esteem, leadership and teamwork. Girls on the Run Northwest Illinois organized six years ago and it has had steady increases in the number of girls participating.

“We’ve had 25 percent growth year by year,” Executive Director Laurie Dayon said. “We are pretty comfortable with our growth and feel it’s standard for our demographics and area.”

Find out what's happening in Huntleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The nonprofit’s signature run starts with an opening ceremony at 8:15 a.m. Sunday, May 19 at Woodstock North High School, 3000 Raffel Road, Woodstock. Runners must be at the starting line at 8:30 a.m. Each girl has a running buddy and there are community members who run so the event attracts about 1,800 runners.

Girls on the Run Northwest Illinois is open to girls in 3rd through 8th grade. A few of the local schools participating are Hannah Martin Elementary School in Lake in the Hills, Heinemann Middle School in Algonquin, Leggee Elementary School and Marlowe Middle School, both in Huntley.

Find out what's happening in Huntleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Its mission is inspiring girls “to be joyful, healthy and confident using a fun, experienced-based curriculum which creatively integrates running,” according to its website. There are over 190 locations in the U.S. and Canada.

Its curriculum is broken down in three sections, Dayon said. The first section revolves around helping girls understand what they value and what they believe in, she said. The second section focuses on taking their values to apply to peer relationships, how to deal with bullying and gossip, she said.

Community service makes up the last section. The girls must develop and execute, Dayon said. Teams meet twice a week for 10 weeks.

The run is not timed, it is not about who finishes first, she said. It’s about setting a goal and reaching it. Every girl is a superstar,  “It’s really just a celebration for each one of these girls,” Dayon said.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here