ST. LOUIS — A group of young girls from Maplewood Richmond Heights Elementary School Girls on the Run gathered in Forest Park with their families on Sunday morning to join other program participants and supporters at a 5K road race. Twelve MRH girls participated in the Girls on the Run after-school program this past spring, meeting two times a week to learn about fitness and strategies for navigating the challenges of adolescence. 

The first St. Louis Girls on the Run chapter started about 10 years ago when Executive Director Jill Indovino read about the organization in Runner's World and gathered a group of 20 girls in a Clayton park. There are now chapters in more than 150 area schools and program director Katie Helbig said that they expect to serve more than 5,000 girls this year.

Despite chilly temperatures and intermittent rain, the MRH girls spent the morning dancing to pop tunes in the staging area and all crossed the 5K finish line with smiles on their faces. This is the first year that MRH elementary students have participated and the program will be expanding into the middle school this fall. 

MRH parent and Girls on the Run coach Ericka Murphy said that her daughter and the other girls have really enjoyed their experience and she's also seen the benefits of the training pay off in the children's stamina in other sports, like soccer and softball. She's also been pleased to see the impact of the personal development skills that are incorporated into the program curriculum.

"You think that they're not listening," she said, "but at the end you realize that the lessons have really sunk in."