“It would be cool if I could take 26 girls’ names, write them on a piece of paper and each mile say, `Who am I running this one for?'”
–Deanna Stoer of Chicago talked to Q about the words she hopes will inspire her during the Chicago Marathon in October. Those 26 girls whose names she plans to carry are among the 8- to 12-year-olds in Girls on the Run-Chicago. The after-school program, in which Stoer is a volunteer, teaches girls about running and related issues, from nutrition to teamwork.
“We females are always focusing on our looks and our bodies,” said Stoer, 29. “With all the makeover shows on TV, girls think that by the time they’re 13, they need to have a boob job or a nose job. It’s so important that we help them see at an early age that they should accept themselves. But they should also learn how to be healthy. So many of them have a sedentary lifestyle. They don’t get out and run like we did as kids.”
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Stoer will use the marathon, her first, as a Girls on the Run fundraiser. For more information, go to www.active.com/sports/donate/gotrchicagorunner.
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Who in your life inspires you, readers? E-mail us at [email protected] and let us know; put WOW in the subject field.