Girls on the Run hosts its first race in the Pettit
The young Girls on the Run impressed me in spring with the wisdom to make giggling a big part of their 5K training.
They’ve done it again this fall by putting their first race indoors.
The inaugural New Balance Girls on the Run of Milwaukee 5K starts at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, in the comfortable confines of the Pettit National Ice Center. Registration will open at 9:30 a.m. and costs $30 on race day.
Proceeds will go to support the Girls on the Run chapter that started locally in 2007.
Using running as a tool to help build self-esteem and teach healthy habits, volunteers coach the girls in grades three through five over 10 weeks of training for a 5K race. Participants in the spring session run in the Laura’s Smile Mile.
Other Girls on the Run chapters across the country organize their own 5K races, and the Milwaukee chapter is following that lead with the 11-lap race on the track around the ice oval in the Pettit.
It’s open to everyone.
Participation in the local Jingle Bell Runs shows that there are plenty of people willing to take on the wintry elements, but Girls on the Run organizers say they picked the Pettit to keep things simple in their first outing.