Girls on the Run

Girls on the Run is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating a world where every girl knows and activates her limitless potential and is free to boldly pursue her dreams. The program emphasizes three values: understanding ourselves, valuing relationships and teamwork, and understanding how we connect with and shape the world at large.

The program involves 24 lessons over a 12 week period. Girls meet in small teams of 8-20 girls and learn life skills through fun, engaging lessons. Each team also creates and executes a local community service project to learn the strength that comes from helping others. The program concludes with a 5K running event to give the girls a tangible sense of achievement and a framework for setting and achieving life goals.

The mission of Girls on the Run is to inspire girls to be joyful, healthy and confident using a fun, experience-based curriculum which creatively integrates running. The program envisions a world where every girl knows and activates her limitless potential and is free to boldly pursue her dreams.

Girls who participate in Girls on the Run have increased physical activity levels, higher physical activity commitment, and improved body image.

As an international program, Girls on the Run has been evaluated for efficacy since 2002. A quasi-experimental study was conducted in 2009 involving 877 participants. Pre-intervention, previous program participants had significantly higher physical activity commitment and physical activity levels compared to those who had never participated. For newly exposed participants, the program was found to result in improved body image and increased physical activity.