In this episode of the Find Your Edge podcast, host Chris Newport interviews Celia Dario, leader of Girls on the Run of the Triangle. They discuss the organization’s origins in Charlotte (2000) and its expansion to the Triangle, serving five counties and over 27,000 girls and women. The program offers two curricula for girls in grades 3‑8 (elementary and middle‑school tracks) delivered in 10‑week fall and spring seasons, with twice‑weekly practices that blend running, life‑skill lessons, and a culminating 5K. Around 800 volunteer coaches support teams of 5‑30 girls, receiving training and resources. Practice locations vary from school tracks to park trails. The conversation highlights signature events—the Be Amazing 5K on May 16 in RTP/Durham and the winter Reindeer Romp 5K—plus the “Soulmates” fundraising program that partners with local races (City of Oaks, Tobacco Road, Garmin Marathon) to offer free registrations and perks. Celia shares stories of girls gaining confidence, conflict‑resolution skills, and joy from completing a 5K for the first time. Listeners are invited to get involved as coaches, volunteers, Soulmates, or race participants, with details available on gotrtriangle.org and the organization’s Instagram. Chris also mentions his own triathlon, Humans of Steel, which supports Girls on the Run each year.
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Welcome to the Find Your Edge podcast. I'm your host, Chris Newport, founder, head coach, sports nutritionist, and exercise physiologist at The Endurance Edge. Our mission is to empower people to reach and sustain peak performance and health. So get ready to dive into all things training, nutrition, recovery, and more. We hope to give you detailed information and inspiring stories to help you be your best. Let's do it. All right, y'all. Welcome back to the Find Your Edge podcast. I am super excited for our guest today from Girls on the Run of the Triangle, Celia Dario.
Yes.
Welcome to the show. I'm so excited for you to talk about Girls on the Run and get into all things girls empowerment.
Yeah, I'm so excited to be here and talk with you.
Yes. So let's start off with how Girls on the Run got started. And then maybe a little bit of information specifically about Girls on the Run of the Triangle, because we are located in the Triangle area of North Carolina. So yeah, take it away.
Yeah. So Girls on the Run, it was started actually in Charlotte. So same state, which is kind of cool. We are the second council to start. So it started with just a small group, you know, one coach got a couple of girls together. Started running and learning about confidence, and it kind of just grew from there. And now we're like all across the country. So we're the second council to like start and kind of branch off from that original Charlotte location. We started in 2000, so it's been 26 years of Girls on the Run of the Triangle, and we serve 5 different counties. So that's Durham, Wake, Orange, Chatham, and Johnson. Since 2000, we've served over 27,000 women. And girls.
So yeah, that's amazing. So how many, how many coaches are you up to now? And then did— is there— does each team have like a certain number of girls on it? So tell us about that.
Yeah, so we had around like 800 volunteer coaches last year. Wow. Um, so each team has 1 or 2 coaches. The amount of girls can vary. Maybe it's like 5, maybe it's up to like 20 or 30, um, depending on the site or the school. And our volunteer coaches. We train them, they get everything they need to be a coach. They're just like amazing volunteers from our community that whether that be a teacher or a parent or just someone who say like, hey, I want to get involved in Girls on the Run, just has no like connection to it, they can come and coach with us.
Yeah. So cool. And for the girls, is there any specific requirement for them to participate?
Yeah, so we serve girls through 3rd through 8th grade. We have two different programs: Girls on the Run, which is just elementary, 3rd through 5th, and then we have our Heart and Soul program, which is middle school, so that's 6th through 8th. So anyone can join. We are— have sites like a lot of different schools, so you can join your school's Girls on the Run site, or you can come in without like a school and just like be placed somewhere and just join a team. We also have some teams that are affiliated with like local parks. So yeah, anyone is welcome to join.
And are there like certain start and end dates or is it just like jump in anytime? Like how does that work?
Yeah, so we have a fall and a spring season. We're getting ready to go into our spring season right now. Registration is currently open and that will close on February 23rd. So it's a 10-week program, fall and spring. Meet like, teams meet like twice a week for like an hour, maybe hour and a half long practice. And then at the end of the season, we have like a big 5K. And so all the girls run the 5K and we all come together at the end, celebrate, run together, and it's a lot of fun.
Yeah. I have been at one of those 5Ks and it is so amazing.
Yes.
So inspiring. So fun, like unlike any other 5K I have ever participated in. And it, and that's a lot.
So yes, yes.
I was lucky enough to run with a, with a girl who was also a gymnast. And so she would run a little bit and then she would walk a little bit and then she would see a friend and then she would run a little bit more and then she would like leapfrog and cartwheel. And I was like, this is the most amazing 5K I've ever participated in. So it was, it's. So fun.
Yeah, it's always so fun. I look forward to it so much every year. Like, the energy is amazing. It's just like the best time. Yeah.
It's, it's next level. There's like glitter everywhere. I freaking love it. It's, it's so fun. I, so good. So girls are not just running. So like if they're doing this hour and a half practice, like maybe there's an assumption like, oh my gosh, you know, my kid can barely run anything. Like, What is a, what is like a typical practice look like for them, both from the coach's point of view and also from the athlete's point of view?
Yeah, so you don't have to have run ever before, both as a coach or as a participant. We always say that we're like so much more than just running. It's really about like blending that physical activity, like with like life skills, like making friends, like working through conflicts, kind of growing your confidence is what we focus on the most. And running is a great way to to come together and like to complete a big goal, like running a 5K really gives you a lot of confidence, like learning how to do that. So yeah, we're all about activating girls' limitless potential and making a place of belonging. So like a typical practice would be, we have like a curriculum, so we have little lessons each week that will be about things like friendship or conflicts or how to express yourself when you're feeling like angry or upset, like in a way that's productive and like staying true to yourself. So they'll do the lesson and then run, do some warmups together, maybe work up, working up to that 5K. We, they do a practice 5K at practice. So that's kind of what like a typical lesson looks like.
And are these all like, I know you mentioned a park. I know there was one at the school down the street from me and we have like a little gravel kind of track kind of deal. Is it just. All kinds of different surfaces potentially and areas that, that these girls are running in?
Yeah, so that'll be just each team has a place that's designated for them to run, whether that be at their school. We, you know, think ahead of time of where's the best, safest place for them to run, that be a track or a trail at a park. And yeah.
Love it. So cool. And is it typical for athletes to return for multiple seasons? Same with coaches, like what, what is, What does that look like?
Definitely. Yeah, we have a lot of returning girls. It's great because they can do it every year, especially if you start in 3rd grade. You can just keep, keep going and build those friendships. And we have some coaches who have been with us for 20 seasons, which is amazing. So yeah, yeah, yeah.
And you guys have 2 seasons per year, correct?
Yeah.
Fall and spring registration is now. It's February and then you have 10 weeks Right. And then you culminate in, at least for the Triangle, this Be Amazing 5K, right?
Yes. Yes.
So tell us about that. When, when is that? We need all the details so that we can volunteer, we can participate. Like, how do people become coaches? So answer all the questions all at once, Celia.
Yes. So we're really excited to Be Amazing, uh, 5K this year. It's going to be RTP and Durham on May 16th. This is a race we partner with a company called Peak of Running. They put on this race and then we're the beneficiaries of it. And then we invite all of our families, girls to come. So it goes, the money goes to supporting scholarships and making sure that we can continue to run this amazing program. Anyone is welcome to join. So if you're a runner, if you're just someone from the community, maybe you've heard about Girls on the Run, kind of wanna see what we're all about. It's a great way to like feel that energy and get like introduced to it. Or if you're a runner and you wanna run competitively as well, Anyone is welcome to join. Strollers, dogs are welcome. It's just like a fun day. So yeah, that'll be May 16th.
And is it morning? I would assume. Yes.
So the race starts at 10:00 AM.
Oh, lovely. I love, I love a race where you don't have to wake up super early.
No, no, it's a great, it's a good time. I appreciate that as well. Yeah.
All right. So Be Amazing 5K, anybody can participate.
Yeah. Anyone is welcome to join. It's just for the entire community, whether you're affiliated with Girls on the Run or not, you can join us there. I love that.
So cool. I love that. And then you also mentioned beforehand and wanted to talk about your Soulmates program.
Yes.
So tell us about that.
Yeah, Soulmates is one of the programs that I head up and it's really fun. You can kind of choose any physical, like, activity of your choice and use that as a way to raise funds for Girls on the Run. So we've partnered with a couple different races, um, in the area and we give you free race registration to those races if you become a Soulmate. So the ones that we currently have going are City of Oaks, Tobacco Road, and then we recently partnered with the Garmin Marathon, which is gonna have its first race in Durham. So we're really excited about that to be getting in on like the first race and being able to offer our Soulmates free race registration. So that's for the Garmin Marathon or half marathon. And as a soulmate, we kind of, you know, keep up with you, offer encouragement, send you fun like perks and goodies. In the Garmin race, you can be entered to win a raffle to win a free Garmin product. So that's kind of fun. Um, special perks. So yeah, our soulmates, sometimes they're like past like coaches or alumni who are like, I wanna give back to Girls on the Run and kind of inspire our girls like and show them what's like possible, especially like running a marathon. Might be something that a girl goes on to do. So it's really fun program.
Yeah, so cool. I love that. Um, so how do people get involved with— hopefully we'll have everything like linked below— but how do people get involved with the Soulmates program? How do they go get involved with Be Amazing? How do they become a coach? And how do they get one of their girls involved? Because we got a lot of different pieces here, so I want to make sure all of our bases are covered.
Yes. So the best way to learn about any of those is just to go to our website. That's gotrtriangle.org. Uh, we have pages there for all of those things. Also following us on—
which is G-O-T-R.
Girls on the Run. Yeah, gotrtriangle.org. And also just following us on social media. We post like a lot of updates there, a lot of information about those programs, a lot of just like fun videos too. So You know, it's fun as well. So definitely follow us on our Instagram. That's G-O-T-R underscore Triangle. So G-O-T-R is our Instagram.
Cool. I'll be sure to link to that. And then you guys have your Fall 5K for your fall program.
Yeah. Our Fall 5K, it's always the first Saturday in December. So that is a Reindeer Romp. So reindeer, winter theme, lot of fun.
Yeah. So cool. So cool. Awesome. Um, all right, Celia, anything else you, any stories you wanna share about some of the athletes that you've, or some of the coaches, like anything that really sticks out to you about some of your experiences you've had with mm-hmm. The program and how it's supported these girls?
Yeah, I think what sticks out to me is I always go around and chat with the girls like on race day and like interview them and ask, what do you love about Girls on the Run? Like what's something that you learned this season? And I'm always like amazed at their answers, talking about like, I learned how to solve conflicts, like in school, like I used to be really like anxious or like angry or bored. And now, like, I think back to my time at Girls on the Run and like, look forward to doing it later and just like feeling good about like their day and like making new friends. And I'm always so inspired and almost feel like emotional, like when I see them like first start the cross the start line and just, and cross the finish line, I'm like, I'm gonna cry. Like the joy on their faces and I can see how excited they are that they've like run a whole 5K. Like some of them have never run ever before. So that always like sticks out to me as very special.
So it sounds like the transformation internally and socially, and then also like in the moment. Yes.
Yeah.
So great. I love it. Awesome. Celia, any last, um, uh, calls to action for us to be able to, uh, support Girls on the Run?
Yeah. Uh, I think what I love about, uh, Girls on the Run is that there's a lot of ways to get involved. So whether that be like as a coach or just coming into our office, like for one day just to help us pack bins to get ready for supplies for our teams, or coming to the 5K or being a soulmate, like any way that you wanna get involved. Involved, like there's probably a great option out there for you and we just wanna like welcome everyone in to like just experience a little bit of this joy that we have to offer.
So good. I love it. And, uh, a little shameless plug on our end. We do a triathlon every year. It's called Humans of Steel and this year it is August 2nd in the summer and Girls on the Run comes out and do, we do a kids fun run and they lead the warmup and it is just like absolutely the most adorable thing that we've ever seen. And then Girls on the Run of the Triangle is our beneficiary. So we try every year to support an entire team, which I think is like somewhere around $3,200. Mm-hmm. So if anybody out there listening does the Humans of Steel race, then you are also supporting Girls on the Run. Because me as a race director and as a business owner, I would not be where I am today without sport. And I am so tickled by this organization at how much you support women, not only in their physical activity, but their emotional and social wellness. So thank you so much for that. I deeply appreciate this program and I hope everyone out there will support it in some way, shape, or form. So Celia, thank you so much for coming on and for sharing all things Girls on the Run. And we look forward to supporting you this year and in many years beyond.
Oh, awesome. Thank you so much. It was great talking with you.
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