Girls on the Run is celebrating its 25th anniversary this spring since founder Nancy Heydinger started the first team in 1999 at Vernon Elementary School.
VERNON — When Nancy Heydinger founded the Vermont chapter of Girls on the Run in 1999, with its first team consisting of her own two daughters and 13 girls from Vernon Elementary School, she never expected the nonprofit would grow from sprints to full-blown marathons.
“I wanted to find ways to help these girls grow into strong, healthy women who love and care for themselves,” Heydinger said this week. “I wanted them to celebrate and embrace their natural talents, to know that what they have to offer is valuable, and to believe that they can make a meaningful impact in their communities and the world.”
Girls on the Run has lived its mission with these girls and many more. The nonprofit, which serves grades 3-8, celebrates its 25th anniversary this spring. Heydinger's vision and passion has grown from one location and 15 girls to more than 120 locations statewide and 2,700 girls annually. Through running and games, GOTR helps girls develop greater self-confidence, a stronger sense of identity, healthier body image and a better sense of community.
“Our mission is to inspire girls to be happy, healthy and confident,” said Rachel Desautels, executive director of Girls on the Run Vermont. “The skills they learn in GOTR give them the tools to develop their social, emotional and physical wellness.”
The Vermont chapter of GOTR is one of 170 “councils” that have been established across the country since Molly Barker founded the organization in 1996 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
“[Barker]was trying to create a space to help girls feel more confident and build their self-confidence,” Desautels said, “so when[Heydinger]started this here in Vermont, she had the same idea. She wanted to create a space where girls didn't have to feel like they were competing with boys. So our mission has always been to inspire girls to feel more confident and have fun and be healthy.”
Girls on the Run has a 10-week season in the spring, with teams meeting twice a week. Each lesson begins with an introduction to the “big idea” of the day, and kids participate in non-running games to incorporate that theme before moving on to running and athletic games.
“One of the themes, for example, is positive self-talk,” Desautels said. “The lesson is aimed at showing the girls how to take that inner voice, which is often harsh or negative, and turn it around and see the positive side and overcome it. The girls will run laps with their partner, holding note cards with their negative self-talk on them, and during the lap, they might discuss how they can turn it into something positive. Then, at the end of the lap, they talk with their coach. And there's a lot of breaking things down and talking about it in between movements. The idea is that over the course of these 10 weeks, the girls were able to build up the stamina to complete a 5K with other girls from around the state.”
The first of two “memorial” 5K runs is scheduled to take place today in Essex Junction, with the second scheduled for Saturday, June 8, at Dana L. Thompson Memorial Park in Manchester.
Desautels mentored her own daughter as a GOTR participant and has been a volunteer and staff member for the program since 2012. She took over as executive director from Heydinger in 2019. She finds great satisfaction in sharing GOTR's many success stories.
“We have girls who become junior coaches in high school and then become coaches as adults,” Desautels said. “We see kids who develop a true love for the sport of running and go on to do cross country and track. But even if it's just a girl who finishes the program and develops a love for exercise and activity, nourishes her body with healthy eating, builds friends and relationships, and helps her develop a healthy social-emotional state, that's also a real success story. The best part is seeing girls grow up and tell us what this program meant to them.”
One of those people is Alex Gregory, a Dummerston native and senior at Brattleboro Union High School. Gregory is one of two former GOTR participants to receive a $10,000 alumni scholarship, made possible through the program's partnership with sponsor M&T Bank.
Gregory, 17, will be attending Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts, in the fall. She has participated in Girls on the Run for six years and said the activity fits well with her sports “curriculum.” She also served as a junior coach for GOTR with her sister, Maddie Harlow.
“When I started Girls on the Run, I wasn't very confident,” said Gregory, who played field and ice hockey at BUHS. “But as I continued, I started bringing my friends along and we did it every day after school. It was a fun activity that we all enjoyed, and we did a lot of running, but it didn't feel like we were running that long. Then I trained until I was able to do a 5K, and I was really happy that I was able to finish it and achieve it. So it's had a really positive impact on me.”
It all comes back to Heydinger, who started Girls on the Run as a family business with her husband, Tom, and their children, Katie, Caroline and Tommy. Now celebrating its 25th anniversary, Heydinger returns as co-coach of the Dummerston School program with veteran coaches Elizabeth Catlin, Allison Hubbard and Sheila Pinckney.
“I feel so blessed to once again experience the benefits this program has had on girls,” Heydinger said. “Every day I share the joy of Girls on the Run with old and new friends who love our mission and are passionate about helping girls become strong and confident. I have drawers full of letters from girls, their parents, guardians and grandparents telling me how this program has changed their lives. My heart is filled with memories of seeing the shining faces of girls as they ran, walked or skipped across the finish line at the season-ending GOTR 5K.”
Rachel Desautels, executive director of Girls on the Run Vermont, met with a group of Vermont Elementary School students to discuss the program on Friday, May 17, 2024. Local photos are available for purchase online.
Heydinger is a longtime marathon runner herself (she still runs the occasional marathon with her daughters, but you'll find her on local tennis courts and hiking trails) and as manager of leadership for the nonprofit educational organization High 5 Adventure Learning Center.
“A few years ago, my mother told me about a dream she had,” Heydinger says, “in which she was told I would be the mother of many children. She interpreted this to mean that through Girls on the Run, I would have the opportunity to make a difference in many people's lives. And it turns out she was right.”
For more information about Girls on the Run Vermont and to register as an adult running buddy, youth (17 and under) running buddy or GOTRVT program graduate for the season-ending 5K on June 8 in Manchester, visit https://www.gotrvt.org/.
