A few of you have met my friend Marit, who has come to the Sunday Joe run a bunch of times, and the Saturday run a few times over the summer. During the school year, she can't make it to the Saturday run because she volunteers on Saturday mornings coaching 8- to 12-year-olds for a group called Girls on the Run. Girls on the Run is a health and wellness program that introduces girls to the fun of running and paves the way for an ongoing active lifestyle and healthy self-esteem. The meet weekly during each school semester for a session that includes warm-ups, stretching, running, and games -- culminating in a 3-mile run at Asphalt Green.
As someone who 1) grew up in Manhattan and 2) until a year ago, hated running, this concept seems pretty cool. There are lots of great things about growing up in New York, but at least when I was a kid, running was not one of them. Unlike basketball, soccer, or softball, it wasn't activity that could fit neatly in a gym or on a playing field. Also - and this isn't specific to New York, of course - compared to team sports, running didn't seem fun to me. Soccer and softball were games; running was what you did when you were late or being chased by something.
Obviously, I've come around to running in my old age. But as much fun as I'm having with it now (thanks to the Joe running team!), it does make me think how much sooner I could have come to it if it had been more accessible to me and appealing when I was a kid.
Anyway, enough about me. And running. Let's talk about drinking! Girls on the Run is having a fundraiser next Wednesday, and you're all invited. Come by on April 28th, 6-8 PM at Lugo (1 Penn Plaza/Eighth Avenue at 33rd Street; lugocaffe.com). 15% of all food and drink sales will be donated to the Manhattan chapter of Girls on the Run. There will also be a charity raffle, which, according to the email I got, includes "cool accessories from the Bikini Thief." Not sure what that is, but clearly, it's not to be missed.
For more information on Girls on the Run, visit http://gotrm.org/
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