WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-Girls on the Run at UVM

Girls on the Run at UVM

Burlington, Vermont - June 10, 2007

Hundreds of girls were getting fit, raising funds, and having fun at the University of Vermont Sunday.

It was all part of Girls on the Run, a program aimed at teaching teenage and pre-teen girls about healthy living. Girls on the Run is a national program that many Vermont schools have incorporated into their curriculums.

"We have a 10 week program where the girls learn life skills through running. So they play running games and they learn about taking care of their body, being healthy, setting goals, what are their values -- being good team members and good community members. And while they are learning all these lessons, they're running and playing running games," said Nancy Heydinger, the events Vermont coordinator.

Heydinger says about 15-hundred people participated from about 80 schools -- that's the biggest number ever. Five-thousand dollars was also raised for future scholarship money.