Mary Langenfeld
Members of the Hawthorne Elementary School Girls Running Club (from left) — Gaby Xelhua-Tecalero, Jaila Hassell, Kiyarri Mims, Janaiiya Hassel, Aliyanna Vang and Rinzin Kunsel —completed the 5K Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on May 30.
As the skies darkened and a warm Saturday morning in late May suddenly turned windy and chilly, nearly 30 fourth- and fifth-graders from the Hawthorne Elementary School Girls Running Club fidgeted, anxiously awaiting the start of the 5K Susan G. Komen South Central Wisconsin Race for the Cure. Within minutes, a steady, dreary rain would soak them and the event’s other 6,000 runners and walkers before they could even break a sweat.
But the Hawthorne girls’ spirits were far from dampened.
Even though they didn’t sport the names of brave women who battled breast cancer on their lime-green T-shirts — as did so many other participants that rainy day — they still understood this was about more than a race.
Mary Modaff, a breast cancer survivor and third-grade teacher at Hawthorne, has taught them about the invasive disease that will affect one in eight women in the United States over their lifetime. More than 231,800 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in 2015 alone. Mary has given breast cancer a face for these girls.
“They get it, and Mary is an inspiration to them,” says Hope Houle, co-organizer of the Hawthorne Girls Running Club, which launched four years ago as a way to empower students, many of them from low-income families.
But even beyond Mary, members of this special group — formed as a less-expensive alternative to the popular Girls on the Run movement — understand that running can help improve their own lives.
The Hawthorne Girls Running Club exists because of generous donations from local businesses like Movin’ Shoes and the Roman Candle Pizzeria, as well as private donations sent to the school. Members meet after school on Wednesdays and Thursdays during the spring to talk about the importance of self-esteem, the harmful effects of bullying and gossip, and how to lead healthy lives. Then the girls spend about 45 minutes running in small groups based on their abilities.
Fifth-grader Rinzen Kunsel told me she runs two miles — sometimes three — during those sessions. Rinzen and one of her classmates, Gaby Xelhua-Tecalero, were the first two members of the Hawthorne Girls Running Club to cross the Race for the Cure finish line, completing the 3.1-mile route through the scenic Bay Creek Neighborhood in 26 minutes — two minutes ahead of Houle and other female teachers from the school who are active in the group.
The girls were in high spirits as they waited for other members of the club to finish. Fifty-one minutes after they started, all of the girls finished — soaked but stoked.
“It’s about achieving goals,” Houle says. “We’re showing these girls how they can push themselves to go beyond what they ever expected.”
Hawthorne Girls Running Club
Number of Runners: 35 fourth- and fifth-graders
Founded: 2012
Miles Run: Between 16 and 24 over eight weeks
