How can running help to develop self-esteem, improve self-worth and build confidence?

It’s a question the Girls on the Run program has been answering for the past 16 years ever since its founder, Molly Barker, began the first Girls on the Run group in Charlotte in 1996.

Now an international nonprofit organization, Girls on the Run teaches elementary and middle school girls to celebrate their uniqueness, recognize their inner strength and the power they have to make their own decisions and make a difference in the world — all while training to run a 5K race at the end of the 12-week program.

In Haywood County, Girls on the Run programs have started up for third through fifth grade girls at Central and Clyde Elementary schools, and for the girls that participate, it’s made a world of ...