COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - A crowd cheered as more than 300 girls and their family members Saturday ran the Heart of Missouri Girls on the Run 5K to celebrate what the girls learned during the educational program. Eleven-year-old Ruthie Worden said the program has given her an interest in running, taught her how to handle bullies at school and taught her girls don't need makeup to look beautiful.
"We looked at magazine covers and at girls who put a bunch of makeup on and didn't look like their actual selves," Worden said. "It showed that some people don't think they're pretty enough, when they are."
Heart of Missouri Girls on the Run, a nonprofit prevention program for third- through eighth-grade girls, aims to inspire girls to be confident and healthy. The program's curriculum includes group discussions, community service and exercise.
The local group, which is part of an international program, started in 2011.
Cheryl Unterschutz, one of the program's organizers, said she hopes Girls on the Run gives girls confidence. Unterschutz said she struggled with anorexia growing up.
"Had there been a program like this when I was a kid, it would have given me the tools" to be happy with myself, Unterschutz said.
Unterschutz said the 5K is about celebrating what the girls accomplished during the 10-week program. This semester's class had 162 girls enrolled at 10 sites. Unterschutz said the organization mostly works at schools and the Boys and Girls Clubs. Girls on the Run also offers the program at churches and community centers.
A group of 54 volunteers served as coaches this semester, each using the organization's curriculum and meeting with their group twice a week.
Jason Johnson said his 8-year-old daughter Piper has enjoyed the program. This semester was the first time she participated.
"It gives them strength, and it shows them being a girl is a positive thing," Johnson said.
Gena Worden, Ruthie's mom, said the program has helped her daughter know how to navigate social situations with other girls her age.
"They do train" for the 5K, " but it's a good mix of team building, confidence building and spirit building," Gena Worden said.
Ruthie said the 5K is her favorite part of the program.
"I really get to let loose, and I don't have to wear anything fancy to do it. I like to feel the wind blowing on my face while I run," Ruthie said.
Information from: Columbia Daily Tribune, http://www.columbiatribune.com