Here’s your 5K Week Checklist ✅
💧 Stay hydrated
😴 Get plenty of sleep
💬 Say positive things to yourself
🎉 Have FUN on 5K day!
Remember: you’ve trained, you’ve tried, and you’re READY!
Let’s make amazing memories in motion this Saturday! 💖🙌
🌈💪💛👟
11/04/2025
✨💖 Thank You to Our Amazing Supporters! 💖✨
We are so grateful to our incredible community partners who make our Program and Fall 5K possible! Because of your generosity, more girls across mid-Missouri are gaining confidence, building friendships, and crossing the finish line with pride. 🏃♀️🌟
Your support fuels smiles, cheers, and life-changing lessons, both on and off the course. Thank you for believing in our mission and empowering every girl to shine! 💫
👟 See you at the starting line this Saturday!
Commerce Bank
Columbia Parks and Recreation
Fleet Feet Columbia MO
EquipmentShare
Natural Grocers
Kilgore's Medical Pharmacy
Kiwanis Club of Columbia-Boonslick
Downtown Optimist Club of Columbia
The Bank of Missouri
Veterans United Foundation
11/04/2025
🧡 Thank you including Heart of Missouri Girls on the Run in your list of 5 Nonprofits you're Thankful For Columbia City Lifestyle!
"At Girls on the Run Heart of Missouri, the mission: inspire girls in 3rd–8th grade to be joyful, healthy, and confident. Since 2011, this council is part of a movement blending physical activity with lessons on friendship, teamwork, and resilience.
Each spring and fall, volunteer coaches lead a 10-week program where girls meet twice weekly to run, connect, and learn. Sessions build toward the season’s highlight—a celebratory 5K that marks miles covered and confidence gained. For many, it’s their first race, and the finish line becomes a moment they’ll carry into school, friendships, and life.
The impact reaches far beyond the track. In Columbia, Girls on the Run partners with schools and community sites to ensure access, offering scholarships so cost is never a barrier. Programs like Heart & Sole, designed for middle schoolers, dig deeper into leadership and decision-making—equipping girls with lifelong tools for success.
The organization’s greatest challenge is reaching every girl who could benefit. Transportation, funding, and awareness remain hurdles, but the team works tirelessly with schools, donors, and volunteers to expand their reach.
This season, they’re especially thankful for the coaches, school partners, and sponsors who make each practice and 5K possible. Looking ahead, Girls on the Run hopes to expand into more schools across mid-Missouri—and they’re inviting the community to join in by volunteering, sponsoring, donating, or cheering at the next 5K."
11/04/2025
11/04/2025
🧡 Thank you including Heart of Missouri Girls on the Run in your list of 5 Nonprofits you're Thankful For Columbia City Lifestyle!
"At Girls on the Run Heart of Missouri, the mission: inspire girls in 3rd–8th grade to be joyful, healthy, and confident. Since 2011, this council is part of a movement blending physical activity with lessons on friendship, teamwork, and resilience.
Each spring and fall, volunteer coaches lead a 10-week program where girls meet twice weekly to run, connect, and learn. Sessions build toward the season’s highlight—a celebratory 5K that marks miles covered and confidence gained. For many, it’s their first race, and the finish line becomes a moment they’ll carry into school, friendships, and life.
The impact reaches far beyond the track. In Columbia, Girls on the Run partners with schools and community sites to ensure access, offering scholarships so cost is never a barrier. Programs like Heart & Sole, designed for middle schoolers, dig deeper into leadership and decision-making—equipping girls with lifelong tools for success.
The organization’s greatest challenge is reaching every girl who could benefit. Transportation, funding, and awareness remain hurdles, but the team works tirelessly with schools, donors, and volunteers to expand their reach.
This season, they’re especially thankful for the coaches, school partners, and sponsors who make each practice and 5K possible. Looking ahead, Girls on the Run hopes to expand into more schools across mid-Missouri—and they’re inviting the community to join in by volunteering, sponsoring, donating, or cheering at the next 5K."
At Girls on the Run Heart of Missouri, the mission: inspire girls in 3rd–8th grade to be joyful, healthy, and confident. Since 2011, this council is part of a movement blending physical activity with lessons on friendship, teamwork, and resilience.
11/04/2025
🫶 “Kindness is the foundation of everything we do,” DeRose said. “It shows up in how we encourage every girl to see her own worth, support her teammates and believe that her actions can make a positive impact on the world.”
Heart of Missouri Girls on the Run is being honored as a winner of this year’s Kindness in Business Awards. The awards recognize mid-Missouri businesses and organizations that have exhibited and promoted kindness during the past year.
Thank you & Congratulations to all the 2025 Kindness in Business award honerees! 😊 🧡 🙌
Missouri Business Alert and Children's Grove are thrilled to announce the honorees of the 2025 Kindness in Business Awards. Read about each honoree's efforts to exhibit kindness in Mid-Missouri at the link in our bio. Congratulations to all the nominees and honorees!
11/04/2025
🎒 Fall 5K Food Drive THIS Saturday! 🥫💖
📍 Stephens Lake Park
🗓️ Saturday, November 8th | ⏰ 9 AM – 12 PM
👟 ✨ As we lace up for our Girls on the Run Fall 5K, we're also joining forces to support our Heart of Missouri Girls on the Run girls, families, and participating schools through our Fall Food Drive! ✨
Please consider bringing non-perishable food items to help fill pantries and fuel families in our community. Your kindness goes a long way! 💪❤️
11/03/2025
🎉🏃♀️💖 Our Girls on the Run 5K is THIS SATURDAY! 💖🏃♀️🎉
We can’t wait to celebrate our amazing girls as they cross the finish line full of joy, confidence, and GOTR sparkle! ✨
Bring your cheers, your energy, and all the positive vibes, it's going to be a magical morning! 😃
📍 Stephens Lake Park
📅 Saturday, Nov. 8
⏰ Festivities start at 9 AM
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Contact The Organization
Send a message to Heart of Missouri Girls on the Run:
Heart of Missouri Girls on the Run is an independent council of Girls on the Run International. Established as a non-profit, 501c3 in 2011, our organization manages and delivers Girls on the Run programming throughout the heart of Missouri.
Our council began in the fall of 2011 with just two schools and 24 girls. Today, we serve more than 30 sites and more than 500 girls annually. We provide programs to girls in Ashland, Boonville, Columbia, Jefferson City, Macon and Ralls County Missouri and are adding new sites each season.
Girls on the Run is a 10-week, twice yearly program that meets at schools and community centers. Over the course of the season girls engage in lessons that help to build personal confidence and courage, and help them build and maintain healthy relationships. As part of the program, they also learn how to set and achieve goals by training to run a non-competitive 5k. At the end of the 10-week season, participants complete a 5k. Crossing the finish line is a tangible way for girls to see their goal achieved.
To sum up the impact of Girls on the Run for girls in mid-Missouri just ask our girls.
“I had 0% confidence before Girls on the Run. Now I have 100,000% confidence. I feel like a queen, that’s how much confidence I have!” – Sophie, 5th grade.
This what Girls on the Run is about. Empowering girls to be the best version of themselves possible!
