For kids of military personnel, their lives are filled with frequent moves, missing parents for months at a time, and a realistic fear that their mom or dad might not come home.
Girls on the Run is a nationwide program that encourages pre-teen girls to develop self-respect and healthy lifestyles through running.
It has become popular with military families and has made its way to Camp Pendleton.
For information on how to get involved with Girls on the Run in San Diego, click here.
These aren't just any girls and this isn't just any team. Their parents are in the military and they're learning life skills through running.
Lilly's dad is a Marine pilot, and moving so much has been difficult for her.
"I had lots of friends at one school and then I had to switch to the home school here - that was difficult because I had no friends there."
Local
"Girls On The Run!" addresses concerns like separation and worry.
"How do you be resilient, how do you cope, how do you continue to deal with uncertainty and stresses, deployments and moves and all the things that come forth in our life."
Each practice has a lesson. First, they start with the individual, then work on the team.
"Girls on the run can help you when your father's gone and it can help you when you're alone and it helps you get really healthy," said Kami, whose dad was deployed seven months last year.
Lilly says it helped her deal with common problems pre-teens usually face, such as bullying.
"When you're bullied one day you come home - well first you go to girls on the run and you get your emotions out from that bully, then you go home and you don't feel like you were bullied at all."
Lilly, Kami, and their Camp Pendleton buddies will be among 300 San Diego girls aged 8-12 who will stampede Embarcadero wearing glitter and tutus for the San Diego Girls on the Run "Sparkle and Shine 5k" this weekend. To register, click here.
