Dear Girls on the Run Coaches and Running Buddies:

Even after 11 years, I am still amazed by the pull Girls on the Run has on the people who are attracted to our program.  You all seem to mysteriously emerge from the chaotic waves of the world around you and find your way to the calm and comforting waters of Girls on the Run.

I could fill an entire book with the stories of the girls I have met over the years.  I am literally transformed by each one…gracefully pulled forward to a space I didn’t know existed inside myself.  Mikayla lives life from her wheelchair.  Brianna had heart surgery just weeks ago; Christy lost her mother to cancer and Nakia’s dad is in Iraq. 

I had the opportunity this past spring to visit quite a few of our Girls on the Run 5k’s.  After most of the girls finish, an impromptu line will frequently form, girls wanting me to sign the backs of their shirts.  What a privilege for me to share, with them, this precious dot on the timeline of their lives (and mine.)

“What’s your name,” I asked a young woman, probably 11 years old or so.

“I’m Emily.”

“Good job Emily!  That must mean you are EXTRAORDINARY EMILY.”   I signed that on the back of her shirt and add a quick “Molly B.” We embraced each other and off she goes.

“What’s your name,” I asked again.

“I’m Amber.”

“Way to go Amber!  That must mean you are AWESOME AMBER.”  The process continued for several minutes. My heart was filling up to overflowing with each and every exchange.

And then I come to…her.

“What’s your name?”

Standing before me was a mess.  Her shoulder-length, light brown hair was completely soaked.  She stood no taller than my waist–thin little legs with knobby knees, ribs apparent through a drenched t-shirt and miniature hands, as delicate as a china doll’s.  Her face was beet red with freckles peppered across the fair skin of youth. Her baggy shorts were tied as tightly as possible around her mid-section, the hem of them still below the knee.

She was speechless.

I kneel to be eye level.

“Hey there sweetie, what’s your name?  Do you wanna tell me?”

Someone from further back in line, clearly much bigger and older hollered out, “Her name is Melissa!”

“Melissa. Mmmm,” I paused for a moment.  You are definitely Magical Melissa.”

And this…this is where words fail me.  In that wordless space between the two of us something magical was being exchanged.  I knew exactly how she was feeling.  I could see it in her eyes, feel it in her gaze and literally touch it with my soul.  In that brief instant, we were one in the same…Melissa and me.  She was me and I was her and for a second I stood there before her as the 4^th grade Molly who somehow didn’t feel like she fit in.  The fourth grade Molly who was scared to speak up in class, told that tomboy’s were weird and somehow just didn’t feel pretty enough. 

In that visible empty space between the two of us, I saw what was in her and she saw what could be in me.

“You just can’t find the words, can you?”

She shook her head, a smile rising up from somewhere deep inside began to make its way across that beautiful beet red face.

“Will you sign my shirt?” I asked.

She enthusiastically nodded her head.

I handed her the pen, turned on knee to present my back to her.  I felt her tiny fingers straighten the fabric of my green Girls on the Run t-shirt and delicately scribble out words yet unknown to me.

Later on that night, I slowly undressed, exhausted from the day.  I carelessly pulled the t-shirt from my back, tossed it onto my hotel floor, replaced it with a clean one and snuggled my way into much needed sleep.  Reaching over to turn off the light, I glanced to the shirt that lay at my bed side.

And then I see her words hiding there, tucked in among the dozen or so names and scribblings across the back of my shirt: Magical Molly.

You are about to experience the magic of what I have come to expect every time I coach Girls on the Run.  I am humbly indebted to you for your passionate commitment and abundant love for the girls our program serves.

Take care of yourself,

Molly Barker, M.S.W.

Founder and Vision Keeper

Girls on the Run International

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