If you’re a caregiver or prospective coach who’s wondering what a typical Heart & Sole (H&S) practice entails, look no further! In this blog post, we outline each step of a traditional H&S lesson from warm-up to cool-down. Our curriculum is carefully designed to both teach valuable life skills and lessons to your girl and prepare her to succeed at the end-of-season 5K, and our trained coaches follow a specific practice plan to ensure that every participant has the best possible experience! 

When Angela Bianco sat down to watch a Matoska International Elementary School basketball game, she unknowingly kicked off a ripple effect that would change both her life and the lives of many young girls. Angela, a fourth grade teacher at Matoska attending the game to support her students, happened to take a seat beside Kathleen Cannon, the executive director of Girls on the Run Minnesota. As they spectated, they struck up a conversation first about basketball, but the conversation slowly turned to the topic of Girls on the Run.

Allison Juda woke to the sound of her ringing alarm. Rolling over, she reached for her phone, the bright screen illuminated with the date: Sunday, October 1, 2023. The Twin Cities Marathon race day. 

We are so excited to share the next brand new, updated curriculum that we will be launching this spring 2025! Following up on last spring's debut of Hello, Superstar! which focuses on building confidence to be ourselves and love ourselves by activating our star power, in spring of 2025 we will be hosting our first season using the curriculum Hello, Mountain Mover! Throughout the season, teammates will focus on building confidence to do hard things and empower others around them to do so as well.

This is the second in a suite of three updated curricula with each new curriculum reinforcing core GOTR tools and skills and following a fun, empowering theme that builds different forms of confidence.

Georgia Ross smiled at her dad behind the camera as he hit the record button. Before her sat a music stand and a pile of sheet music. “Okay,” she said, “this is for Girls on the Run, and I guess Britney inspired me to do this song… so yeah.” Then, the nine-year-old girl launched into a self-written tune that would be played at countless coach training sessions, banquets and other Girls on the Run Minnesota events over the next decade.

At Girls on the Run Minnesota, we firmly believe that every child should have the opportunity to cultivate healthy habits and develop healthy relationships, and we’re committed to making Girls on the Run and Heart & Sole as accessible as possible. To break down cost as a barrier, our program uses a pay-what-you-can model for both general and 5K registration fees.  We also provide gear like shoes, pants, and sports hijabs to one third of program participants to ensure all girls have what they need to participate.

Our joyful 5K day, seen from above! Watch here.

Support from the MN-based women-owned business will help thousands of girls