“Mentorship is a relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps to guide a less experienced or less knowledgeable person.” Wikipedia

Last year I met this incredibly talented Gazelle that we’ll call “Gazelle C.” She was a participant in our Girls Gone Gazelle spring session that trained for and completed the June Sole Sisters Women’s 5K. With no formal race or running experience (she was 10 after all) we had the opportunity to introduce her to running at a time when she was also dealing with some health issues that could have easily sidelined a less motivated athlete.

Initially starting with a combination of “walk+run+walk” training, the coaches were quickly impressed with her focus. This Gazelle has determination and grit which are perfect traits for a runHER and not something that you can teach as much as cultivate. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi: “Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from indomitable will.”

I’ll never forget the day this Gazelle decided that she would run the entire practice, regardless of the coaches plans to have her run with walk breaks. She was as proud of that practice as we all were, and she’s been running strong ever since.

In fact, this Gazelle would continue to run races throughout the summer and fall of 2017, culminating in a particularly arduous challenge. As part of a team of Alumni Girls Gone Gazelle participants, Gazelle C ran in an event called Virtual Everest (where the Gazelles ran the equivalent distance of running to the top of Everest by running repeatedly up and down Citadel Hill in Halifax). This event is so challenging that permission had to be granted from the organizers to let this team of young girls participate (they had an average age of 11). They did amazing and finished ahead of half the field of adults. Go Gazelles!

At the time of writing this blog post and shortly after being forwarded this groovy song in the spring of 2018, we’ve already seen Gazelle C at a number of races. It’s pretty neat to be called a mentor to someone that has such a bright future.