In preparation for a 5K run slated for this spring, girls at Claymont Elementary School entered their third training session this week as they learn to eat right, set goals and manage conflicts.

It's all part of the Girls On the Run after school program for preteen girls, which teaches both physical fitness and life skills. With the help of volunteer coaches, mostly teachers and parents, the girls spend 10 weeks training in full.

"It's really kind of a whole-person concept. So not only are they being physically fit, but we're also preparing them to be strong mentally as well," said Katie Helbig, program director for Girls On the Run St. Louis.

The nationwide program came to St. Louis in 2002 and has grown rapidly over the last five years—this spring, more than 4,000 girls at 106 schools in the St. Louis area are participating.

"The cool thing about it is it's all grown by word of mouth," Helbig said. "So parents, girls, teachers are all talking to each other, saying how fantastic the program is, and they call our office and want to get started. It's been really neat that it's just grown completely organically and I think it speaks to the strength of the program."

Claymont Elementary in Ballwin is new to the program this year. The 13 girls participating meet every Wednesday and Friday for an hour after school for stretching, character development activities and running laps. Christy Seidel, the school secretary, is the volunteer coach and follows a curriculum provided by Girls On the Run.

Practices begin with a healthful snack, then the girls sit in a circle and talk about goals and challenges they face every day. This week, the topic of discussion was conflict management. One girl shared a story about how she discussed becoming a vegetarian with her mom, who was against the idea. They ended up "agreeing to disagree," which Seidel said was a healthy solution. After that comes the exercise circle.

"There's two leaders, and the leaders pick whatever they want to do, and we have to do it for 10 seconds," Alexa Abney, a fourth grader at Claymont, said at Wednesday's practice. "Your legs kind of get stronger, and it stretches your legs so you can run better."

Some parents come to the practices too, to run with the kids and help motivate them. Krista Abney, Alexa's mom, is one of them.

"I wanted to run with Alexa, so we could have something to do together. To get her into running, so she can run for her whole life, hopefully," Abney said.

Allyson Wright, another parent volunteer, said some of the girls are more motivated than others, but she hopes that over time the goal of completing the 5K in May will encourage them to push themselves.

The Girls On the Run 5K takes place on May 15, at Forest Park. More than 4,000 girls from all over the St. Louis area, in both Missouri and Illinois, are expected to attend. Wright said that probably one in four girls will bring parents or siblings to run with them for support. After the race, there will be a festival of face painting, dancing, and a duck race.

"I think it'll be fun because you kind of have to race people, and I'm nervous that I won't make it," said Kaitlyn Faber, a third-grader.

"The race is really important because it shows the girls that if you set a goal and you work hard, you can achieve that goal," Helbig said. "My absolute favorite thing to do is to stand about a hundred yards from the finish line and watch the girls' faces light up when they see that finish, and they're coming across."