Our fantastic train run with Girls on the Run now complete, fall semester at an end (or almost), got me thinking about the Youth Run NOLA year. I’ve been remiss about not posting more consistently in the last few weeks — grad student life is great until the last month of the term — but now that the holidays are upon us, everyone seems to be reflecting on the year, and so am I.

At this time last year Youth Run NOLA was just taking its first steps, culminating in the Crescent City Classic in April, which was a celebration of the work our students had done. I made buffalo wings, there were lots of high fives, it was a beautiful day in City Park. Now we have more than 100 students in 8 schools across 3 parishes, donors, volunteers, and partners from across the city and all walks of life. We’ve had family fun runs, road races, a fundraiser; we’ve worked with other great organizations; we’ve gotten to claim our own journey right here.

Mostly, I’m proud of the work our leadership team and coaches have done building relationships, inspiring students (in and out of the classroom), and showing that hard work and commitment really do pay off. We’ve come quite a long way this year, and plan to keep growing and improving — and watching Youth Run NOLA students become the community leaders of tomorrow.

There’s still so much work to do, whether working toward the Crescent City Classic, 2012 edition or building on the foundation we have to make sure more kids are building character through their commitment to leading healthy, active lifestyles. But it’s nice to know we have that foundation, and that next year will be a big year, too.