RUN Wenatchee

By Steve Maher
RunWenatchee.com

WENATCHEE — RunWenatchee is giving a hand to helping young girls stay healthy, build self-esteem and have fun.

The running group is partnering with the local chapter of Girls on the Run to help train students and to provide an opportunity for them to participate in an official race.

Girls on the Run is an after-school nonprofit program, affiliated with Columbia Valley Community Health, for third- through fifth-graders. Besides instilling fitness, the program is meant to help girls develop a positive self-image and to better handle peer pressure.

This fall, girls in the program will participate in Turkey on the Run, a 5-kilometer event on Thanksgiving Day at Rotary Park in Wenatchee. The event is put on by RunWenatchee.

“This will be the first time that many of these girls complete a 5K let alone participate in a run,” says Marlen Mendez, Girls on the Run coordinator and Columbia Valley Community Health outreach supervisor. “Turkey on the Run will make this experience more enjoyable and rewarding, and because it’s going to be done in such a fun environment, the miles will fly!”

“When they cross the finish line, it will be a big boost for them and quite an accomplishment,” says Joel Rhyner of RunWenatchee, which puts on the Thanksgiving Day event.

Girls on the Run has programs at Sunnyslope Elementary School in Wenatchee and at schools in Chelan and Manson. It anticipates adding at least two more schools to the program this fall. The local chapter was recently featured in this article published in The Wenatchee World.

For more information on Girls on the Run, contact Marlen Mendez at (509) 661-3623 or mmendez@cvch.org.