Saturday’s 5k celebration wrapped up my volunteer season with Girls On The Run. It’s the culmination of all the girls’ hard work throughout the season.
I woke up bright and early Saturday morning to take the L to Millennium Park — bright and early being 5:30am. It was a brutal time to hear that alarm going off but luckily I hopped out of bed and was ready in just a few minutes. As a coach I had to be at the site at 7am to check in the girls, their running buddies, and pick up the girls’ bibs and running packets. Of course, seeing as it was dawn I had one important stop to make beforehand:
recycled photo but you get the idea
I arrived at the site just after 7am thanks to CTA delays (you know what I’m talking about Bethany). My assistant coach had already picked up the packets so I headed over to our meeting spot to get the girls all set up, bibs on, and stretching.
My favorite part about the 5k was the parents’ involvement. The girls aren’t allowed to run alone, so they have running buddies who complete the race with them. Every single girl had either one parent or a few family members show up to run with them. It was funny because I hadn’t heard from a single parent the entire 12-week season so I got to meet a lot of them this weekend for the first time. Nothing like saying “Hi, nice to meet you! You’re welcome for babysitting your daughter for the past three months! ” I kid but not really…
Everyone was pretty apprehensive before the race. The forecast called for thunderstorms and wind so we were all on edge throughout the morning. Luckily we were in corral A so the girls were off right at 8am and done by 9. I wanted to do cartwheels of joy when I realized that as my girls were wrapping up their 5k some of the other groups hadn’t even started.
We did a bit of dynamic stretching (most of which included the girls rolling down a hill…I am not meant to be a teacher…zero discipline happening over here), got the girls’ bibs pinned on, took some mother/daughter pictures, and headed to the starting line. With Selena Gomez blaring over the speakers, the girls were off just before 8am. Everything ran so smoothly!
The other coach and I went down to the finish line to wait for our girls to arrive.
There was a bit of rain but nothing compared to what happened later in the day so we really avoided the worst of it! As the girls ran past us with their running buddies I got more emotional than I thought I would — it was so wonderful to see them push so hard at the finish. I honestly didn’t realize how much I loved those girls until the very end when I saw them pushing to finish the 5k! I teared up thinking about how great the girls are — so confident, goofy, independent, and strong, and I had a great sense of pride being a part of Girls On The Run. As a woman who grew up in this crazy society myself, I know how hard it can be to hold on to those unique parts of yourself in a world that tells you to be more normal, quieter, smaller, and less expressive, while also making you question your worth based on impossible physical standards. These girls are too young to be affected by most of that but soon enough it will happen. And I’m just so hopeful that their involvement with Girls On The Run will make them stronger to fight it. GOTR is all about learning how to be strong and healthy, physically, while also teaching them values about friendship, self-confidence, and kindness. And even if they didn’t take much away from the season, I hope that I had a small part in helping them grow stronger.
I felt like a proud mama bear at the end of the race and insisted on tons of pictures with all the girls. Now I know why moms do that!
The girls grabbed their medals, bananas, and water and just like that, the season was over. I have to admit it was weird to just have the families walk away afterwards. I felt like I wasn’t getting any closure on a program that I volunteered for for 12 weeks. But I guess that’s what they say — you have to give without expectation. That’s the point of volunteering, right?
When I moved to the city, I knew I wanted to be a volunteer. I wasn’t sure how, but I’m so happy that I decided to volunteer for GOTR. It taught me so much, including the fact that I am not born to be a teacher! I have a new-found respect for teachers — just three hours a week was exhausting.
So — will I work with the program next year? Yes. Will I be a head coach? No. I was unfortunately placed at a site where the Site Coordinator, aka the person at the school who was supposed to be my main form of contact and connection to the school, was completely MIA the entire season. There were multiple days when I prepared a lesson, showed up, and there was no school so no one was there. There was no communication about how to get the girls their after school snacks, where we were supposed to run, how to enter/exit the school, who to talk to to set up our bake sale, etc. For all the school knew I was just some stranger who roamed their hallways on Monday and Thursday afternoons. That being said, towards the end of the year things got exponentially better as one of the moms came to every practice and took charge. She organized the bake sale and end-of-the-year party and communicated with the principal about our program and plans. I really couldn’t have done it without her. I’m happy that I was a head coach this season, but for net year I will definitely stick with the assistant coach role, and I will definitely make sure to lay of my expectations for what the site coordinator’s responsibilities are at the beginning of the season.
If you’re interested in volunteering for Girls On The Run for their fall season, give it a try! I highly recommend working as an assistant coach — in that role you only have to commit one day a week for 90 minutes. As a head coach you are required to volunteer twice a week for three hours, not including lesson planning, so just consider what you can handle.
At the end of the day, GOTR is a non-profit, and as we all know, non-profits are disorganized. But I wouldn’t trade my experience for anything, despite the challenges. Because overall, I got to hang with some pretty cool third graders for 12 weeks and that alone was worth it.
Questions:
- Have you ever work with Girls On The Run?
- What’s the best organization you’ve ever volunteered for?
i had a big lunch 
So fun! I’ve looked into volunteering with GOTR, but there isn’t one close enough to me and I have such random work hours some weeks I couldn’t do it consistently. I think it’s such an awesome organization, though!
It works best for people with odd schedules — I definitely couldn’t have done it with an unpredictable schedule or a 9-5 job! It is an awesome organization!
So proud! Glad you were in corral A – the weather this weekend was terrible.
YES — I was home by 10:30am (post-Flywheel) and it JUST started pouring then.
HA, do I ever know what you’re talking about. Oh, the CTA 😛
I’m so glad things went well for you and your girls! It sounds like it was such a wonderful experience, and I’m really glad Saturday’s weather didn’t put a damper on the day’s events. GOTR is such a fantastic program, and I’ve loved hearing about your involvement with it.
I can definitely see you being a coach too! It was a fantastic program. And thank goodness the rain and cold held off until later in the morning!
Sounds like a great way to end the season! I wanted to coach Girls on the Run but I don’t get out of work in time to make it to the practices. Glad that it all went so well!
It’s definitely hard to do if you have a normal 9-5 job or an erratic schedule. But yes, if you ever can in the future, it’s a great organization!
I was an assistant coach for GOTR a few years ago. It was a great time and a very valuable experience. I feel like I learned a lot from the girls! I think my favorite volunteer experience was in graduate school, I worked for the UPenn Vet Center training search and rescue dogs. So basically I got to hang out with adorable puppies all day!
Darn allergies will forever keep me from working with pups — but that sounds like an amazing volunteer experience!
It was a miracle I didn’t steal one : )
you are so cute. such dedication, i love it! i’ve never worked with GOTR but i have been a volunteer with Big Bro/Sis of NYC for the past 4 years and really enjoy that organization. i have had the sweetest two “littles” and feel so blessed to work with these girls!
That’s a great organization too! I love that you get to focus on one or two girls. They probably think you’re the coolest person in the world 🙂
I was thinking about you! We had our first marathon training session on Saturday, and I saw all of the GOTR girlies after! Sucks that it was so yucky weatherwise, but it just goes to show you can still have fun, right?
Thankfully the weather held off for the most part for both of our runs! It dropped 20 degrees in an hour around 10-11.
That must be so frustrating to volunteer your time and energy and not even have the parents say thank you. But I know that’s not what you did it for, so I’ll say it on their behalf… thank you for doing it! I have a little girl in grade four and I know how much it would mean to her to have someone invest in her life on a regular basis, caring for her as she makes this goal to run a race. She would never forget it and neither will the girls you helped out. What an incredible experience for all of you! Nice job.
Thanks for your kind words!! I really appreciate it.
Glad it was such a success! It seems so rewarding and now that it’s over you can focus on that great test you have coming up…
YEP! Now I have nothing to distract me 🙂
Well done Lauren! You have done so well enabling these girls to achieve! Wish this charity was over here, even though I’m not a fan of running I would still enjoy this!
Thank you!!
yikes thats early. congrats on the race!
Thank you!
Early day! Congrats on the race. GOTR seems like an amazing organization. I have never volunteered for them, but it would be something to consider for the future. 🙂
It definitely was an early day! But worth it because we were then done really early 🙂
Aw, sounds like a great experience! I’m glad you had so much fun with it. The pictures are great!
Aw thank you!!
Congratulations! That is so awesome that you volunteer for Girls on the run. It sounds like a great organization. Such a great confidence booster for the girls. Glad to hear you beat the heavy rain that came later on in the day.
It is so wonderful for the girls! Definitely worthwhile.
I love these events. I wish we’d had them when I was a kid! Glad the rain (mostly) held out for you!
I’m with ya I really wish I had this as a kid too!
Love the pictures of you and the girls and it sounds like you learned a lot through the process about yourself and the level of involvement that’s right for you – that’s awesome! The best organization I’ve volunteered with was probably at college, working at an after school program – I think it’s fun to spend time with kids and yes, it totally reaffirms my respect for awesome teachers!
That’s so great you volunteered in college! I didn’t have enough time so even when I tried to I would end up bailing. I was so happy to actually commit this time around!
That’s really awesome that they make them have someone run with them. I think that is something that needs to be pushed more, because children lead by example and if their parents aren’t exercising and eating right, why should they. Anyways, great post!
Agreed! And the girls worked so much harder with their parents around haha
What a fun race! I’ve been looking at GOTR, but just am not sure I can commit to having a set schedule with how much I travel and can be gone. It’s definitely a great cause to be a part of though!
Yeah definitely look into assistant coaching! Because even if you have to go out of town it’s not the end of the world 🙂 luckily my schedule allowed it
Woo hoo!
What a great organization! I looked into volunteering for GOTR but there in’st a close by branch. MAybe one day : )
Maybe one day!! I know there are a few in the suburbs but “the suburbs” is a big place haha
I was in contact to volunteer with GOTR but it fell through when I didn’t have time to do that also take a mandatory class. You have inspired me to look into it again for this fall. Thank you!
There was SO much to do just to become a coach. CPR, coach training, etc. Please give it another try because once you cut all the red tape, it’s so wonderful to connect with those girls.
Love it! My oldest daughter is 10 and wrapping up 4th grade. She is a dancer, but recently started wanting to run. I’m going to see if GOTR is in our area.
Please do!! I’m so excited for you!
That looks like such a fun event. It’s a venti kind of morning here today, the weather sucks and I don’t want to eat up.
Sometimes it really is just a venti kind of day!
I was a coach this season (10 week program) and have many of the same feelings as you do! It is a wonderful program, but it is extremely time intensive and sometimes you feel like a babysitter/after school care. I completely agree with you on the assistant coach role for next season!!
Definitely time-intensive. Glad we’re on the same page about assistant coaching 🙂
I love GOTR! I coached a year ago and unfortunately haven’t had time since. I’m looking forward to participating at the school I’m student teaching at next semester. I also hope to take over coaching at whatever school I eventually get hired to teach at after graduation. It is such an amazing program!!!
If I were a teacher I would love to do it too! That’s so wonderful, and just another way to connect to the kids in your school.
Looks like so much fun!! It’s ALWAYS nice to have a workout buddy, and mentors you can look up to!!
It’s like mini-group fitness 🙂
This is so awesome!! Way to be so inspiring girl!! 🙂 🙂
Well thank you! I certainly hope I was inspiring to them!!