Personal Narrative: Girls In Stride

Day one, nervous with anticipation, the coordinator told me to the girls on the lower field were mine. Scanning the group, I noticed most girls were standing in laughing and joking in small groups, discussing the current events of middles school life. One girl caught my eye, she was standing off to the side with her mother--a heavyset girl with scrunched shoulders and hair, a bit knotty, hanging in her face. It would be hard to be a chubby girl in a running program, with all these stick figure middle school girls. Of the two dozen girls, this one needed me most.
I quickly realized this is why I was here. A few weeks ago the email with a subject line “Volunteers needed!!!”, sparked my curiosity. “Looking for energetic, positive, high school runners to coach and mentor girls aged 6-14. Girls in Stride aims to empower girls and provide a springboard to a life of fitness and healthy competition built around the sport of running.” This is definitely up my alley, without a moment's hesitation, I emailed the program coordinator. “I would love to volunteer for your program! I am just the kind of coach you are looking for. I am a peppy, outgoing runner, and my passion in life is helping others.” Assuming many of my cross country teammates had
It was not easy fitting the practices into my busy schedule, but it was completely worth it. Grace would not have been able to complete the 5k if I had not been by her side every step of the way. Instinctively I knew when I saw her that of all the girls, Grace needed me the most. But, in actuality, I needed her too. As we lined up at the start, I looked down at her smiling face, and she was proud of the training completed and excited to run a race with all of her new friends. Hopefully this would not be her last, and hopefully, there will be many more “Graces” in my life. “And when we stepped across the starting line, I met Grace’s smile and said, “Let’s go. We’ve got