Program Growth For Girls On The Run Of Washington, DC Fuels Enhanced Scholarship Program With Expert Shoe Fittings

Online, October 11, 2010 (Newswire.com) - WASHINGTON, D.C. - Girls on The Run of Washington, D.C. (GOTR-DC), an after-school character development program for girls in grades 3-8, kicked off its 2010 Fall semester with nearly 800 participates - twice the level of participation from the Spring 2010 semester. With low-income areas across all 8 Wards fueling the program's recent growth, scholarships are becoming increasingly important to the GOTR-DC, which supports 60% of participants with full or partial scholarships (up from 50% in the spring).

To keep up with this growth, GOTR-DC has enhanced its shoe certificate program, which ensures that each girl in need receives a new pair of running shoes at no cost from New Balance, a national sponsor of Girls on the Run International.

"More GOTR-DC participants qualified for shoe certificates this semester than in past 8 semesters," said Betsy Hammond-Chambers, executive director of GOTR-DC.

To ensure these certificates are redeemed, and that the shoes fit well, GOTR-DC partnered with Pacers Running Stores. Pacers' experts will visit various GOTR-DC practice sites to provide custom shoe fittings for shoe certificate recipients.

"We'll be on-site to ensure these girls get the right size shoes and the right fit," said Chris Farley, co-owner of Pacers. "This is key to both preventing injuries and encouraging the young girls to adopt exercise and running as a lifestyle choice that will carry them into the future," added Hammond-Chambers.

Pacers will first visit Wheatley Education Campus (Ward 5), to fit 16 girls with new sneakers. They'll visit several other scholarship teams for shoe fittings throughout the month of October, including: Walker Jones Elementary School Elementary School (Ward 6); Watkins Elementary School (Ward 6); and THEARC (Ward 8).

On December 12, 2010, GOTR-DC will host their Fall 5K Run/Celebration, the culmination of the 12-week program currently under way at public, public charter, parochial and independent schools as well as community sites throughout D.C. The 5K event will be held at American University and starts at 2:00 pm EST with pre-race activities starting at 1:00 pm EST. Pacers Running Stores is one of several 5K sponsors. Pacers' sports promotion and race management company, Pacers Events, will provide in-kind race management services for the 5K event.

GOTR-DC program scholarships are funded by GOTR-DC's fundraising efforts. Donations are accepted at http://www.active.com/donate/gotrdc2010.

Registration is now available for the New Balance Girls on the Run 5K on December 12, 2010. Register now at http://www.gotrdc.org.

For more information, please contact Betsy Hammond-Chambers at [email protected] or 202-258-7876.