Murphy Girls Training for Season Starters 5K

Were you able to run a 5K as an elementary school kid? 

Some of the girls in Fit Girls program can. The program, which meets after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays in April and May, encourages fitness and empowerment for girls in fourth through sixth grades. 

Part of the national reading and running program, which came to the school three years ago, is conditioning for the in Woodridge, which is organized by the Woodridge Public Education Foundation of Woodridge School  and the

The girls stretch and run laps around the school, marking how many they can run in marker on their hands and keeping running logs. They also play warm-up games that involve lots of movement and run laps in the hallways when the weather isn’t cooperating.

Some of the girls run the Season Starters 5K run/walk. Others do the one-mile fun run. Last year, some girls in the program ran both.

 No boys are allowed in the program, for a reason.

“We want to build confidence and self-esteem for the girls,” said Kim Van Horn, a third-grade teacher at Murphy. “It’s a non-threatening situation to push themselves and not be intimidated by the boys.”

Fit Girls is a national program that was started in Boston by marathon runner Sarah Nixon. Van Horn said she heard about the program and proposed the idea to Murphy Principal Susan Futterer. Van Horn, Mary Goetz, a literary enrichment specialist at Murphy and Moreen Pacana, also a Murphy third-grade teacher, run the program.

The program had seven girls run in the race in its first year and 12 the second. The program typically has 30 to 40 girls involved. 

Faith Ley, a fifth-grader at Murphy, said she plans to run the 5K Season Starters race. She ran the Fun Run last year. 

“I feel more confident now,” she said. “(The program's) made my time much faster.”

Ley said she decided to join the program because she likes to run, and she can talk to the other girls.

The program isn’t just about conditioning. The girls read and discuss books with strong female characters, such as “Esperanza Rising“ and “Riding Freedom.” 

With a grant from the Woodridge Education Foundation, the program was able to purchase copies of the books for the girls to use. Before that, the girls had to check the books out from the library or purchase the books themselves.

The program also raises money for Feed My Starving Children, as well as to pay for the registration cost for the Season Starters race for girls who need financial assistance. 

Van Horn said some of the girls participate in other athletic teams, and some don’t. 

“We have a lot of athletic girls,” she said. “They do other team sports like soccer. We have one girl who competes in ice skating and practices six days a week.” 

She said the program is a great supplemental exercise for any girl, especially those who wouldn’t be exercising after-school otherwise. 

“They’re just getting out and having fun,” she said. “Some of them their parents are working or they’re just not getting out.”

 You can cheer for the girls in the Seven Bridges Season Starter Trail and Road Race, which will be held May 22.