Who Will You Run To?

Yesterday was the Girls on the Run 5K.  Sara ran, along with about eleven million other 3rd through 5th grade girls.  It was crazy to see all those girls in one place, all wearing the same shirt.  Crazy.  And the shirts were purple, so I was very happy.  There were more adults running that I had expected too.  And yes, I know, I KNOW, this program is not about running.  I know that because everyone and their sister has told me that a million times.  It's about building self-esteem and teamwork and whatever else falls into those categories.  And then they train for a 5K.  It's really a cool program.  Sara loved it.  But ironically, the part Sara loved best was the running part.  So maybe, just maybe, some of it is about the running.  At least for my kid. 

Anyway, the girls all started from WMU's Waldo Stadium.  They took off at 6:30 for their 5K run through downtown.  I don't know the exact route, since I stayed at the stadium, but I know that they run past my place of employment.  There are streets closed downtown and everything.  It's a big deal.  It's not a race, there is no timer that I'm aware off, though everyone knew that the girl from our school who came back first for us, third overall, ran it in 27 minutes.  Which, I'm no runner, but that seems pretty damn good.  There are a lot of cheers, and pre-teen Disney Channel music, and an announcer guy who was seriously enthusiastic.  And I'll admit, I got a little teary when Sara came running back to the stadium.  She loved it.  I'm glad she did it.

She kind of got the best of the program I think, because our school had two teams - one on Monday/Wednesday and one on Tuesday/Thursday.  We started with the Tuesday/Thursday team, but switched when we found out it was just too much with softball on the same days.  So Sara was able to have a couple of different coaches, which I always think is beneficial.  One group focused more on running and one group focused more on talking.  And she liked them both equally.  She liked the more running on Tuesday/Thursday, but the Monday/Wednesday group did more games and cheers while they ran, even though they ran less. 

What did I learn from this program?  That I would never coach it.  There is no way you can please everyone and everyone has an idea of how it should be done, but very few are willing to actually do it.  And since my attitude leans toward the "If you don't like the way I do it, feel free to step in and take over at any time", I don't think I'd make many friends that way.  In fact, by not criticizing this year's coaches, I may have lost a friend or two. 

Here's what else I learned - having a boy is much easier.  You just give them a ball or a Nerf gun or a STICK for God's sake and send them out to run around.  They generally don't want to talk about their feelings, and if they do, they certainly don't want to talk about feelings with all of their friends.  If you yell at them to run more, they do. 

Our Girls on the Run girls did an awesome job.  They all came out yesterday in the crazy heat and ran like they love it.  Our coaches got them pumped up and kept them moving.  Our parent volunteers ran with their girls and the other girls on the team.  Everyone finished and everyone got a medal. 

And then we went to Dairy Queen.