GIRLS RUN - Inspiring girls to fitness, philanthropy and an end to cancer

I lost my mother to cancer in November of 2005. As a way to find my way back to a "new normal" I decided to take action against the disease and raise funds for the Lance Armstrong Foundation's LIVESTRONG Challenge 2006, in memory of my sweet Mom. This year, 2007, I wanted to do more. Not just raise funds, but make a significant impact. My experience with fighting cancer was very reactive - it took me losing my Mother to take action. I was haunted by the fact that others must have felt like me, but didn't take action...what if they had? Would my Mom be here today?

I wanted to teach young girls to start now. Be proactive. Be healthy. You have an important voice- use it. Meet the life you are given head on. So, I co-founded GIRLS RUN with my friend, Katie Cromer, who also lost her Mom to cancer, much too soon. Katie and I have five daughters between us, and we have each lost our mother to cancer. We needed to find a way to show our girls that cancer affects everyone and that it’s our responsibility to be active philanthropically as well as physically.

GIRLS RUN is a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering girls in three ways: as community leaders, as fundraisers for national and local cancer initiatives and as life long participants in fitness and a healthy lifestyle. GIRLS RUN consists of an eight week training program for girls ages 8-13 which has an educational component addressing weekly topics including running safety, keeping a runner’s log, healthy eating habits and fitness for a lifetime, writing your elected officials and philanthropic women in history. Participants will fundraise for the Lance Armstrong Foundation nationally and the Memorial Hermann Breast and Bone Health Center in The Woodlands, locally.

The GIRLS RUN program will conclude Saturday, November 10th, with the HIT THE TRAIL 5K, a community wide race open to all regardless of age or gender. This race will be a celebration of these amazing girls participating in GIRLS RUN and or our community - all fighting to end cancer.

My personal hope is that when these girls grow up, there are fewer people they will be running in memory or support of - and - my two girls, will have their Mom.