Girls on the Run program manager shares love for fitness, personal growth

NORTH LIBERTY — Not many people get their dream job right out of college.

Holly Reed, 24, of North Liberty, was planning to go to medical school after graduating from the University of Iowa in 2013. But she took another path as an intern for Girls on the Run of Eastern Iowa.

'Reading their core values and mission really excited me,' Reed, an avid runner, recalled during a recent jog around the track at the North Liberty Recreation Center.

'They use running as a tool to teach girls different life lessons,' she said. 'We're hoping to develop the whole girl, not just the physical aspect, but socially and emotionally.'

Reed, today is a program manager for the not-for-profit, training coaches and overseeing teams in Johnson, Jefferson, Iowa and Washington counties. Volunteer coaches lead teams of 15 to 20 girls in grades 3 through 6 in a 10-week program that ends with a 5K run.

Reed grew up in Solon, playing sports and running with her mother, Laura Reed.

'When I got into middle school, I saw cross-country was an option,' she said. 'I really found my crew there, the people I really hung out with.'

Through the multi-mile runs of cross-country and 400- and 800-meter dashes of track, Reed learned perseverance, toughness and mental clarity. Girls on the Run combines these lessons in a collaborative spirit.

'There are lot of opportunities for kids, including girls, to be competitive and be on a competitive sports team, but not a ton of opportunity for girls to be in a program like this that's really about personal develop and not competition,' Reed said.

The curriculum hits on self-care — healthy eating, sleeping and exercising — and gives girls tools to handle tough situations, such as bullying and gossip. Sometimes girls bring their personal lives to practice, Reed said.

'We have lessons on managing our emotions, not whether they're good or bad but whether they're comfortable or uncomfortable,' she said.

If tense situations arise, program managers can help coaches connect with guidance counselors or parents.

Goal setting also is a part of Girls on the Run, with participants encouraged to set lap goals for the running portion of the practice. But girls don't have to run — skipping, dancing or cartwheels are other options.

Reed sets her own fitness goals. Last year she took part in a Tough Mudder, which is a 10- to 12-mile run and obstacle course.

She wants to do another long run soon and would like to train for a sprint triathlon.

Reed is working on a master's degree in integrative health and well-being coaching through the University of Minnesota. She works part time as a health coach at the UI Campus Recreation and Wellness Center, where she helps faculty and staff set and reach goals for fitness and health.

'When I do some of that stuff, I think about how in Girls on the Run we're teaching girls the same skills,' she said. 'We talk a lot about resiliency and self-care, how they can become resilient individuals to navigate their lives.'

Registration for the spring session of Girls on the Run starts Feb. 1.