Kickstart Running Program

The Kickstart Running Program is a comprehensive after school pilot program led by the Junior League of Toronto (JLT) in partnership with St. Alban’s Boys & Girls Club, Quest Personal Training and FitSpirit, a non-profit organization that inspires at-risk teenage girls to engage in healthy and active lifestyles. The goal of the program is to enhance self-esteem and health behaviors among these girls by helping them to train for and ultimately complete a 10k race.

From November 2007 to May 2008 the Kickstart Running Program will engage twenty 15-to-18 year old girls from St. Alban’s Boys & Girls Club Sisterhood group. A certified fitness trainer will help the girls set goals, track progress and commit to a structured fitness routine. Junior League of Toronto volunteers will act as positive role models and supportive running buddies by training alongside the girls on a regular basis.

The training program will be complemented with a series of skill-building workshops that will focus on topics such as healthy sport nutrition, injury prevention and healthy body image.

To read the full running program schedule, click here.

Recent Events

 

November Recruitment Night - A recruitment night was hosted on November 16th, 2007 at the St. Alban’s Boys & Girls Club to sign-up young women ages 15 – 18 for the JLT Kickstart Running Program. A highlight of the evening was special guest speaker, Molly Killingbeck, a local track and field athlete, coach and three-time Olympian. Molly provided an inspiring talk on the importance of living a healthy lifestyle and setting goals. Molly shared her personal experiences as an athlete and how sport aided her in overcoming her shyness and provided her with the opportunity to represent her country at the Olympics and complete on the world stage. Click here to see pictures from the event.

JLT Kickstart Goes Shopping - On Monday Dec 10th, 2007, the JLT Kickstart! Running Team met at the Nike store at Bay/Bloor for a fun and educational night of shoe shopping - running shoe shopping that is! Ten girls from St. Alban’s Boys and Girls Club joined their JLT running buddies to learn about the importance of wearing proper running shoes to prevent injuries. Thanks to the extra staff provided by Nike especially for the JLT event, each of the girls had a blast selecting the perfect shoe! Click here to see pictures from the event.

JLT Kickstart gets started! - On Wednesday January 9th, 2008, the Kickstart Running team, including girls from St. Albans Boys’ and Girls’ Club and their Junior League of Toronto running buddies met at St. Albans Boys’ and Girls’ Club to launch the JLT! Kickstart! Running Program! Our fitness trainers kicked off the night by giving team members a fitness assessment and offering tips on how to stay safe and warm while running outdoors. After a series of warm-up and stretching exercises we took our first running steps as a team! We trained for 15 minutes that first night and look forward to the next run!