Girls on the Run—a nonprofit program for girls aged 8 to 13—started in 1996, but didn’t make it to Baton Rouge until 2008. The group’s Greater Baton Rouge executive director, Hydie Wahlborg, who had worked with her husband in the tennis industry for about 20 years, only learned about the organization while preparing to run in the 2008 Chicago Marathon. She had never heard of Girls on the Run when she stumbled upon the group’s website. The nonprofit combines an interactive curriculum and running to inspire preteen girls to maintain a healthy lifestyle and build self-respect. A year after getting off the ground in Baton Rouge, Girls on the Run had hooked up with 24 girls in two local schools. Today, 500 girls in 23 schools participate in the regional program. The full Q&A with Wahlborg, a Natchez, Miss.-native, is available here; the following is a sample:
What’s your favorite spot in Baton Rouge?
“Watching a sunset from the levee.”
