Our Founder

Why it Began

Real
-adj. 1. Genuine and authentic. 2. Not artificial. 3. Free of pretense. 4. How one would describe Molly Barker

015Molly Barker established Girls on the Run® in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1996.  A four-time Hawaii Ironman tri-athlete, Molly holds a Masters in Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  A former school teacher and track coach, Molly has also worked as as counselor addressing the needs of women with eating disorders, alcohol and substance addictions and depression.

The Girls on the Run® curricula, the heart of the program, provides pre-adolescent girls with the necessary tools to embrace their individual strengths  as they enter middle and high school.  The earliest version of the 24 lesson curriculum was piloted in 1996 with the help of thirteen brave girls.  Twenty-six girls came the next season, then seventy-five.  In 2000, Girls on the Run International, a 501 (c)(3) organization was born.

With the help of 300,000 volunteers, the Girls on the Run program is serving over 80,000 girls in over 170 cities across North America each year.  In 2010, Girls on the Run hosted 120 end-of-season 5k events across the United States and Canada.  Girls on the Run® has been featured in many media outlets including People, Runner’s World, Redbook, Women’s Day, O Magazine, Fitness Magazine, Self Magazine, Glamour, Shape, Running Journal Order Form Forbes, Running Times, CNN, MSNBC, ABC News, ABC News, NPR, and ESPN.

Corporate sponsors for Girls on the Run International include New Balance, Secret deodorant, Goody hair products, Garmin, Horizon Fitness and Carolina Pad.

The true success of the program is told in the words of its past and present participants.  “I used to be shy, but I’m not anymore.”  “I know that whatever I set my mind to do, I can do.”  “At Girls on the Run I learned how to be comfortable in my own skin!”

That is success.