Like many women, I started running for the most basic of reasons: to stay fit. In a relatively short time, I realized that being physically fit is one thing, but as a whole person, I can be much more fit if I translate my running into community service, and running races to benefit various charities has become important to my fitness routine. I joined the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge for two years to raise money for cancer research by training for the Boston Marathon. Now I raise money for a different cause that has boosted my own fitness by strengthening my heart. On October 13, I ran the Tufts 10k for Women in Boston to benefit Fit Girls, which introduces preadolescent girls to running and reading—two of my biggest joys. I don’t have a daughter, but as a runner and former developmental psychologist who focused on gender, this program keeps me connected to encouraging the growth of strong young women.

The first time I saw the founder of Fit Girls, Sarah Nixon, she was talking to a mutual friend about a program she was designing to promote literacy and fitness in preadolescent girls. My ears always perk up when I hear someone talk about programs for girls, but Sarah caught my attention in a unique way. There was this petite, blonde woman gesturing passionately while she talked about her program, standing in front of me in a psychedelic pink running skirt, two feet planted wide on the ground as she sped her way through the conversation. Sarah, I could tell, is a coach, cheerleader, team captain, manager, and bus driver all rolled into one. She is the total package, the kind of woman all of us want leading our daughters and modeling how women can help girls become strong minded and strong bodied.

An accomplished distance runner in her own right, Sarah is also a champion of literature, and Fit Girls melded her love of running with her love of empowering books. A children’s librarian and mom of three, Sarah began the program in suburban Massachusetts with one group of 4th and 5th grade girls, quickly expanding around the greater Boston area, and she has now trained program administrators as far away as San Diego.

Fit Girls participants sign up for two hour-long sessions per week. Local women lead the girls in non-competitive running/walking workouts that are designed to build endurance over the course of the six-week program, culminating in participation in a local 5k race. While other youth fitness programs might be similar, Fit Girls differs by addressing the importance of the mind in any activity and the value of fostering girls’ self-confidence through literature. As anyone who’s participated in a race can attest, running a strong race happens in large part because of a strong, confident mind. Each session, the girls journal their progress and discuss a “great book” that features female characters who are “smart, strong, and bold,” as Sarah puts it. The program strives to empower girls’ minds, hearts, and bodies through fitness, literature, and community service, showing them that they matter as powerful agents of change in the world.

Sarah brings a remarkable energy and vision to her unique program and sees running as a personal journey toward community service, much like I do. We met as members of a team running the Boston Marathon to benefit cancer research, but we’ve stayed connected by our passion for finding ways for women to support girls’ own personal journeys into a difficult world for their bodies and minds.

Sarah is a far faster runner than I am. But we’ve really connected through this cause, and I’ve had the pleasure of running with her on two occasions. The first time we ran together, she wanted to know about my background as an academic in girls’ development (for obvious reasons), and we chatted about the rewards of working with girls. Mostly, though, I remember one thing she said to me before she shot off at her break-neck pace: “Who wants to clean the house? I mean, really. Why would I spend my time vacuuming when I could be out there in the world doing something?” Yes, I thought. This is where we need to be as women. The floors can wait. We have bigger ground to cover.

She said a similar thing the second time we ran together, shortly before the 2008 Boston Marathon. We were discussing the merits of running skirts—always a good topic for making miles go by—and she said, “In a skirt, you can skip your shower if you have to run an errand. Why take a shower when you’re just going to run again tomorrow?”

When I watch Sarah run, I think of a Mini Cooper–tiny, speedy, cool. Especially when she does donuts (running in circles, not the glazed rings of fat) at the top of a hill while waiting for us to catch up on a training run. Sarah has too much to do, too much world to make better, too many girls to empower to go any slower or to waste time with shampoo. I’m happy to help where I can and do my best to keep up with her. In my experience, finding a cause that you can be really passionate about improves your training, as well as your mental and physical fitness. Find your passion, and move for good.

KRISTINA PINTO was an academic in gender and psychology and is now a mother, runner, and writer currently working on a book about how running enhances motherhood. She also blogs for the Competitor Group at Marathon Mama »

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