News from KC Site

Girls on the run is going well here. Some challenges have been ecouraging the girls to push themselves. For about 90% of the girls I have out this is their very first ever sports experience. Teaching the fundamentals of running I learned is somthing that is not easy :) I am so thankful for my assistants that remind me how hard the girls are working. To gain perspective for me has been to look through the eyes of the other coaches who are either past runners or a non runner willing to try to get into running....

My three greatest stories come from three amazing girls. First there is Thalia. Thalia has had a difficult year. Transferring to this new school, moving a few times, being raised by older sisters, and has dealt with a weight issue for her whole life from what I have learned. As we had our community class meeting the other day, the girls in my class were sharing with the rest of the class how Thalia "is such a good runner, and is really fast!". She has dealt with the mean comments from kids in regards to her body size, but the smile on her face when her running ability was shared was unbelievable. She is by far my hardest worker. Her smile never stops!

In addition I have a girl, Awar, who lives in an area where she cannot go outside to play and previously living in Sudan with constant war, then refugee housing. She is a natural runner though. Often times I will take her and run with her for a bit because she wants to "run fast with me" so we do a few laps together. She pushes herself daily, and dreads ever missing a practice. To give her this opportunity has been amazing. She wants to continue to run with me. Never before has she had the opportunity to just run.

Finally I have Alondra. Alondra is the youngest of several kids and often does not have any opportunity to play outside either. Her only outiside time is the time she gets to be on the playground each day at school, and now at Girls on the Run. Unlike several of the other girls, Alondra is not opposed to running by herself if that is what she needs to do to push herself. Often times girls will not push themselves, and instead go with their friends (which is also a challenge) Alondra however will always push herself and never stops. Running is not an easy task for her, but she gives it her all.