This weekend was a relaxing one for the Fagan family. We spent most of our time on the boat (the weather on Saturday was gorgeous) and around the house and I’m beginning this week feeling well-rested, which is something I know to never take for granted, especially with a little one on the way!
Girls On The Run 5K Race
One of the more eventful things that occurred this weekend was our Girls On The Run (GOTR) 5K! After working hard for 12 weeks and meeting up every Tuesday and Thursday afternoons for practice, it was finally time for the girls to tackle the end-of-season spring 5K race!
(As you can see above, my spiffy GOTR cape was a little hard to manage and kept blowing around like crazy!)
The 5K took place in Mooresville at the Lowe’s Corporate Headquarters at 9 a.m. on Saturday. The beautiful campus was basically shut down for the race which helped the 5K run smoothly since there weren’t any major streets to run by or any cars passing the girls as they ran.
Our team arrived at 8 a.m. and met up at our designated pink flag to check in, attach our race bibs and sign waivers.
My co-coaches and I made sure everyone had everything they needed and also supplied leis to the girls to help our team get in the spirit!
I know I’ve talked about how much I adore my co-coaches before, but I truly cannot say enough wonderful things about these two women. Rita and Wendy have been more than just fellow GOTR volunteers to me. They are true friends and with the way the three of us seem to text all the time and stay in constant communication, I know we’ll stay close even though we’re done coaching together. (Both Rita and Wendy have coached for years and will not be coaching in the fall. I am planning to take the fall season off since our baby is due in August and am hoping to resume coaching again once I have all my ducks in a row with the little one!) They joked that the minute I tell them I’m in labor, they’re going to round up our whole GOTR team and meet me at the hospital to cheer me on! Haha!!
For the 5K race, every girl and coach is given a race bib with the number one on it because the emphasis on this race is not on time. The GOTR 5K is all about simply on accomplishing a big goal. Every girl is “number one” so the race bibs note this which I think is such a cute and creative idea!
A brief description of the mission behind GOTR from the GOTR website:
We also had two birthday girls running on Saturday and they received little blue stars to pin on their race t-shirts.
Happy birthday V and L!
Before the race began, each girl met up with their running buddy. A running buddy can be a member of the family, a close friend or a GOTR race day volunteer.
If you’d like to get involved with GOTR but don’t have the time to coach twice a week, definitely look into volunteering on race day or participating as a running buddy! It’s a one-day commitment that’s also a ton of fun. I actually ran as a running buddy in the fall 5K with one of my girls and had a blast.
Though coaches are not required to run, I was really bummed not to be able to run in the 5K this year (running + pregnancy = not a good combination for me personally), but I was able to team up with Ryan and still participate!
Ryan is a little more than two weeks out from his ACL surgery and running is just very uncomfortable for me right now, so we decided to walk together! Since the 5K course included two laps around the Lowe’s campus, we just walked one together because Ryan’s knee cannot handle much more than that right now. This ended up giving us the ability to cheer loudly for the girls and snap pictures of my team members and their running buddies as they ran by which was so, so fun!
They would all absolutely light up when they heard us yelling their names!
Before the race began, the race announcer did something new this season and took the time to recognize the 8th graders – aka the GOTR graduates – and announced their names for everyone to hear which was really neat, especially since many of the 8th graders have been GOTR participants since 3rd grade!
Since I coach a middle school team of 6th – 8th graders, we had a bunch of 8th graders receive recognition which I think meant a lot to them, especially since they got GOTR capes to wear during the 5K so everyone running could recognize their awesome achievement along the course.
At 9 a.m. it was time to run! I could tell our girls were excited and a little anxious and it was fun to see them so giddy!
Ryan and I walked one lap along the course and then cheered for everyone as they came upon the finish line.
The girls worked so hard and I loved listening to all of their race day stories as they told me about their 5K experiences while talking a mile a minute. They definitely earned their medals!
Congratulations to all of the Girls On The Run girls – in Iredell and Rowan county and across the United States – for accomplishing such a BIG goal and completing 3.1 miles. You are all rockstars and I know I speak for every GOTR coach out there when I say we are so, so proud of all of you!
More Girls On The Run Blog Posts
- All About Girls On The Run – Includes tons of detailed information about coaching and volunteering with GOTR
- Girls On The Run Fall 2015 5K Recap – A recap of my first GOTR 5K experience as a coach and running buddy
- Planning A Fun Practice Girls On The Run 5K – Tips and tricks for GOTR coaches to help plan a fun practice 5K for your team
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For those who may be interested in participating in Girls On The Run in some capacity, you may click here to find a chapter near you. I cannot recommend getting involved with this program enough. It’s the best!
Disclaimer: Photo releases are signed by all GOTR girls’ parents and coaches are encouraged by GOTR to share photos to help spread the word about such an amazing organization.
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I love that they are so excited for Baby Boy to arrive! What a fun group of girls and such a great organization.
Sounds like a great weekend! Do you know the time of the fastest girl? I’m always blown away by how fast some of them can run!
Yes! She came in right around 24 minutes. 🙂
That is so fast! I don’t think I’ll ever run a 5k that fast! haha That girl could have won a 5k against adults with that speed!
I participated as a running buddy in the fall and spring with GOTR and we just had our 5K on Saturday as well. I agree that it is such a wonderful organization. My experience has been so much fun and so rewarding and I love reading your recaps about your experience! Glad you enjoyed it again!
So glad you were able to be a running buddy!! Thanks for volunteering!
What a great organization – looks like you guys had a great time!
What an amazing event! I love that you and Ryan were able to walk the course together! Happy 1st Mother’s Day!!
My GOTR team had their 5K this weekend too! I’ve coached for several seasons now but this was the first time I ran as a running buddy with one of my girls. So fun! Looks like your team had an awesome time!
So fun. Sounds like a successful race! I used to be an assistant coach for my local Girls on the Run organization. When my hours at my job changed, I was sad I had to give up my involvement with the organization. I’m hoping to figure out a way that I can still contribute.
What an awesome organization! That seems like such a great way to build a girl’s confidence while being active!
Great job to all the girls! Programs like this are so great to hear about and I know you’re making a huge impact in their lives. Way to go Julie! Love all the pics 🙂
Sounds like a fun weekend! I wish I’d participated in an organization like that when I was younger – what a fun and nurturing experience for those girls!
I love reading these. It’s such a great organization. Looks like you had great weather for it too!
I absolutely loved helping coach GOTR (I did it back in high school as a junior coach) and I’d LOVE to do it again!
LOVE that you were a junior coach. Some of our 8th graders (aka the GOTR “graduates”) are hoping to be junior coaches in high school and I’m happy to hear you had a good experience!
This is the cutest! My little sis did GOTR (she was a GOTR girl) and loved it. I went to their 5K practice and oh my, what a great organization & so fun!
Such a great initiative. Are you not running anymore now for the time being yourself?
No, not at all. I stopped around 15 weeks because it felt really, really uncomfortable. It’s not my lungs… It’s the feeling of heaviness I get down there that makes it not feel right for me. I really hoped to continue running throughout my pregnancy, but I’ve come to terms with the fact that I will unfortunately not be a pregnant runner. I’m sticking with walking, spinning, strength training and workouts that feel good right now!
Ye I think the vast majority of people are the same to be honest. Fair play for listening to your body! Friend due in less than a week now, just left her and she’s starting to get some “funny” cramps…hopefully she goes early!
That looks like such a good time – and a great cause!
Kim
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I love the capes!!! I coached GOTR a few years back and loved it!
I LOVE reading about your Girls on the Run experience! I think I am going to sign up to be a coach for the fall season here in Jacksonville, FL. It looks like such a great program! Thank you for sharing info about it!
You will absolutely LOVE it!! <3
🙂
What a great experience!! I’m sure this is a huge confidence builder for those girls, I’d love to get involved with this organization!
Looks like such a fun event!!
Hi Julie! I love GOTR! I’m a second grade teacher and have coached the 3-5th graders at my school for the past 5 years. I took this season off because my baby boy arrived 7 weeks ago, but I plan on being a running buddy with one of my former students at our 5k this coming weekend! It’s such a great program!!!
What a fun time! GOTR sounds like such an amazing organization. I’m so glad you’ve had such a wonderful year with your team!
Julie, our practice 5k is this week and your post about practice 5k ideas was posted on the GOTR of Greater Milwaukee coaches Facebook page! I was so excited to see it there since I’m a long time reader. Thanks for all the fun ideas! We are incorporating quite a few of them into our practice tomorrow! Our actual 5k is on June 7 and as a first season coach, I’m so excited to see the girls cross that finish line!
Oh that’s so cool! Thanks for letting me know — I’m so glad you’re using some of the ideas!!! And you will have SO MUCH FUN at the 5K in June! <3
Just FYI it was also posted on the GOTR New Orleans (where I coach) Facebook page!
Enjoy your down time now. As a new momma, I know : )
Those capes are too fun!
I want to help with GOTR so bad!! I so wish I was able to here! This looks like such a fun and special event, and how rewarding for you to have seen these girls work for hard for 12 weeks then finally cross the finish line!
I love hearing about other GotR teams! Looks like it was a beautiful day for your 5k. We had ours this weekend too and it was pouring rain! The girls were rockstars and had a blast anyway! It really is such an amazing program. This was my first season coaching and I already can’t wait until next year (the school I was at only does the spring season).
My daughter’s school doesn’t start GOTR until 4th grade (which she will be next year) and she is super excited to be able to do it
Looks like such a fun time for you and your girls! I am volunteering at my first GOTR 5k in June and I can’t wait.
It looks like you had a gorgeous day for the 5k. I bet they were so proud of themselves.
I love your GOTR posts! Thank you for sharing!
Awww, it is so nice that you and Ryan participated together! This is an awesome organization and I hope Matilda will want to get involved in a few years!
I hope you had a wonderful first Mother’s Day!
just found your blog and what a fun post to start on! we have a pretty decent program of GOTR in portland, OR from what i hear but i have yet to participate. this post was super inspiring and what fun, it definitely made me want to get involved!
what a gorgeous day for an event too and glad you are a part of an organization that is doing such great things to build girls up!
so glad you found me!! <3
That is a really neat organization! I wish there was something like that around when I was growing up! You’re doing great things for those girls.
This seriously looks like so much fun!!!
Looks like you and your girls had such a great time!! So fun.
LOVE GOTR! Coached as a senior in high school and loved every minute of it. Starting my senior year of college next fall and am already anxious to start coaching again after graduation. Big fan of you and your blog too btw! Thanks for sharing 🙂
This is my first season coaching GOTR – and the school I teach at is the first in the area to participate in GOTR. It has been such an awesome program for the girls and we’re so excited for our 5k in June! I’ve loved going through your past GOTR posts to get some great ideas 🙂 thanks!
I love GOTR! Our sorority alumni chapter has a cheer station every year at the one in Virginia! It is so much fun cheering the girls on twice a year!