5K – News

New Balance Girls on the Run Atlanta Spring 2010 5K

Spring 2011 Wrap-up

What a beautiful day for a race!  I am not sure what was shining brighter, the girls’ faces as they completed their 5K, the beaming proud parents or the Sun!

Spring 2011 was our largest program season with over 700 girls participating in four metro-Atlanta counties, 200 dedicated coaches and 50 host locations!  1,700 runners came out on Saturday morning to join the New Balance Girls on the Run 5K in Atlanta.   More than a 5K, this end-of-season run was a celebration, made possible in part by our presenting partner, WestStride running store and the surrounding businesses!

A special thanks to Kevin and Taylor of 104.7 the FISH morning show, for emceeing the event and making this a special day for the participants.  Special guest, Lt Governor, Casey Cagle, joined us this year in celebrating the girls’ accomplishments as part of his “Healthy Kids Georgia” initiative promoting health and wellness programs!

Race participants had many fun activities to choose from at the expo.  Girls and parents were lined up to spin the “Wheel of Fitness” to get goodies and gear from New Balance, Phidippidies, and West Stride.  Smith ACE Hardware brought a sense of spring to the event with their flower planting activity and Paper Affair provided the ribbons for the race charms. The Goody Happy Hair Station was a big hit as always with the girls, who added some funtastic Goody hair products to their race day attire. Caribou Coffee and Flying Biscuit made sure our early-rising volunteers and racegoers had coffee and biscuits to keep them on their toes.  MIX 1 kept us refreshingly smart with their many delicious beverages and Larabars and Cascadian Farms covered the pre-race carbs with their healthy treats. Even those who didn’t run got in some physical fitness by warming up with the ladies from Zumba.  Runners were refreshed post-race with bagels, bananas, and water thanks to Whole Foods of Buckhead and race bags generously filled with donations from our various community partners.  A Huge thanks to the Atlanta Track Club for providing all the race day equipment and to the US Road Sports and Entertainment for providing the water stop supplies!

Once again community spirit permeated the event as over 200 spectators and supporters encouraged and cheered for the runners.  Sarah Smith Elementary won the Team Spirit Award but all the teams showed up with amazing Energy and GOTR Spirit.  The largest community group of runners was the American Boot Camp participants who ran the race as the culmination of their program.

Of course our 5K would not be possible without the army of volunteers who came out to help! Every year we are inspired by over 100 volunteers from all over metro Atlanta who give up their weekend morning to register runners, distribute race bags, set-up and break down tents, man water stations and pitch in wherever they’re needed.  Our coaches and running buddies were there for the girls, keeping them motivated and strong throughout the race.  Thank you ALL for being there, running, volunteering, encouraging!  The Board and staff at Girls on the Run of Atlanta hope you had a great time.  Without you, and your energy, time, and dedication, Girls on the Run and Girls on Track could not be the fantastic programs they are, THANK YOU!

Race Day Photos

Special Thanks to all our amazing photographers!  As photos come in we will post them on our 5K gallery page.

Special thanks to our Race Sponsors:

• Returning Sponsors: Whole Foods, Great Harvest, Caribou Coffee, Chick-fil-A, Flying Biscuit, Paper Affair, 1-800-GOT-JUNK, The American Boot Camp, Alston & Bird LLP, Phidippides, Atlanta Track Club, US Road Sports & Entertainment, Learning Express
• Welcome and Thanks to New Sponsors: PODS storage solutions, Smith ACE Hardware, Menchies, The Atlanta Dream, Larabar, Cascadian Farm, MIX 1, Skipping Stones Photography, Georgia Peanuts, Fisher & Phillips LLP