Last week, my 10-year-old son mused out loud, “I wish there was a Girls on the Run for boys!” He knew his sister had done the popular club in 4th grade, and he wanted his turn.
Back in the late 1990’s, Girls on the Run coach Ashley Armistead thought the same thing. With a degree in Nursing, and another in Health and Sport Science, experience as a GOTR coach, and two little boys of her own, she set out to create a program that met boys’ needs — and not just physically, but mentally and emotionally too.
“We want our children to live to their full potential,” says Armistead. “Any avenue to their total wellness will help them self-actualize and live to their full potential.”
She challenged the notion that “boys will be boys.”
Armistead says working as a Sport Science major at Wake Forest opened her eyes to the role mental and emotional health play in overall physical wellness. She witnessed the “Boy Code” that boys try to live up to — limiting their emotions in order to “act” like boys. She read about Boy Code in Dr. William Pollack’s book Real Boys, and knew she had to do something. In it, Pollack states that boys are only allowed to lead half of their emotional lives, even though boys and girls possess roughly the same amount of testosterone until about age 10, and research has shown infant boys show more emotion than infant girls.
“I was worried about messages they get (to turn emotions inward), that can turn into violence, substance abuse, even suicide,” says Armistead. “I wanted an activity where they could get positive feedback and live as a whole person.”
Armistead set to work, holding a town hall meeting with parents, coaches, educators, and businessmen and women. Nearly ten years later, she launched Let Me Run, which seeks to give boys positive affirmations about their own strength and to redefine success to include empathy, teamwork, and supporting others. These skills are developed through activities for cardiovascular fitness and total body strength.
“The more that we can spread the message in the community that nurture is more powerful than nature,” says Armistead, “the more we can teach people about the development of boys, and not put them in a box and live to the stereotype. They are fully human and should get a chance to live their potential.”
Running and teamwork activities provide the framework to teach important lessons. Besides being a great social outlet, running prevents or decreases chronic illnesses like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Regular exercise increases learning rates, focus, and memory, which help academic performance. It also increases dopamine — which can help decrease depression, fights, addiction, and other negative behaviors.
It was important to Armistead to reach these boys at an early age, because “gender intensification” happens in middle school, as many of us remember. Let Me Run focuses on boys in elementary and middle school for that reason.
The idea caught on quickly. In just ten years, Let Me Run has increased its footprint to 56 regional offices across the country. Even though the pandemic put a pause on school programs, leaders have used the time to reframe the curriculum for the times we live in. New components will teach boys to process trauma (such as deaths, illnesses, and isolation from COVID-19), as well as teach equity and equality overa ll genders and races.
“Testosterone is not bad if channeled correctly,” asserts Armistead. “It can be nurtured to the right outlet.”
Let Me Run will release its new training modules for coaches over the summer, and put its reframed curriculum and parent guide to work in the fall. Summer camps will allow Let Me Run to reintroduce the program to boys before school begins in the fall. Armistead says she’s grateful for how the program has achieved its goals and continues to set new ones.
“It gives boys a shot to consider who their best selves are, and what it means to be healthy on the inside and out.”
Keep up with Let Me Run, register, or explore volunteer opportunities at https://charlotte.letmerun.org/