Girls on the Run is a non-profit program that uses running to teach girls life skills and encourage physical activity. Through twice weekly lessons taught by certified coaches, the program curriculum draws from Lerner's Five C's of youth development model to improve girls' competence, confidence, caring, character, and connection. An evaluation of the Spring 2015 Greenville County Girls on the Run program found statistically significant increases in participants' self-efficacy towards physical activity and time spent being physically active based on pre- and post-season surveys. While other measures like confidence and connection also increased, the changes were not statistically significant.

1. What is Girls on the Run?
Girls on the Run is a non-profit comprehensive Physical
Activity-Based Positive Youth Development (PA-PYD) program
that provides a foundation for a healthy lifestyle through
physical activity and a curriculum component. Girl’s on the
Run’s underlying theoretical model is Lerner’s Five C’s of youth
development. The Five C’s are Character, Caring,
Competence, Confidence and Connection and are the core to
the Girls on the Run curriculum. The curriculum is composed
of 24 lessons taught by certified Girls on the Run coaches.
Running is used to motivate and inspire girls to have a life filled
with physical activity and confidence.
GOTR Outcomes
•The Spring 2015 Girls on the Run Participants were
predominately Caucasian (81.4%), followed by African
American (13.3%), Hispanic (7.7%), and Other (2.7%) as
reported in Figure 2.
•Our results indicated statistically significant changes in the pre
and post test means for the self-efficacy of physical activity
and physical activity time variables. P values less than 0.05
were required for statistical significance.
• The p-value for self efficacy of physical activity was 0.012
and the p-value for physical activity time was .006.
•There was also a positive mean change in confidence, caring
and community variables but the results were not statistically
significant.
GOTR Data Analysis
We analyzed 113 pre and post test surveys for the Spring 2015
season of Greenville County Girls on the Run. The responses
from each pre and post survey was inputted into the SPSS data
software system. Descriptive statistics were used for
demographic characteristics and the pre and post-intervention
values for all eight variables. One sided paired sample t-tests
were used to compare mean differences in pre and post-
intervention values for participants. The mean differences are
reported in Figure 1.
GOTR Vision
The Girls on the Run program was developed to address and
reverse the decline in physical activity that occurs in girls from
childhood through adolescence. The program targets girls from
ages 8-13 and combines training for the final 5k event (3.1 mile)
with a set curriculum that promotes positive emotional, social,
mental, and physical development. Both the Girls on the Run
and Girls on Track includes a 12 week program where the
participants met twice a week with their coaches.
GOTR Instrument
A 26-item paper-and-pencil survey was used at the pre and post
intervention. The surveys measured eight different variables. Six
variables consist of the sum of three questions with response
options ranging from 1 to 5. Variables included confidence, self-
efficacy/physical activity, connection, character, caring and
community. In addition, the last two variables were based on
screen time and physical activity time. There were also
demographic questions such as age, birthdate, race/ethnicity,
current grade, and number of times a girl participated in the
program.
The Evaluation of the Greenville County Girls on the Run
Program
Clemson University
Department of Public Health Sciences
Dr. Karen Kemper- Creative Inquiry Team: Allison Bossong, Kathryn Dundervill, Margaret Huss, Maggie LaPorte and Legare Passailaigue
Figure 2: Racial Demographics of Greenville County Girls on the Run Participants
Figure 1: Pre-Season to Post-Season Mean Comparison of the 8 Girls on the
Run Outcome Variables.
Table 1.Differences in Pre and Post Mean Scores for Confidence, Self-efficacy of
Physical Activity, Connection, Character, Caring, Community, Physical Activity Time,
and Screen Time. (n=113)