TWR's Running Project IX for Middle and High School Girls

While Title IX legislation was enacted more than 50 years ago, we still see lower participation in sports, including high school cross country and track & field, for girls than for boys. This TWR Athletics Club summer program seeks to make progress toward fulfilling the promise of the Title IX legislation by creating an opportunity for girls and young women in grades 6 through 10 in Howard County to explore how high school running can help them get more out of life through a combination of training and education.

Thank you for your interest. The 2025 Running Project IX program has reached capacity. If you would like to be placed on a waitlist for the program, please contact Coach Griffiths at coachgriffiths@twrdragons.com.

This program will focus on both running and education. Instruction in the running disciplines offered in high school – middle- and long-distance running, as well as sprints -- will come from a female-led RRCA- and USATF-certified coaching staff. Running Project IX will also offer educational lessons about health & nutrition issues for the female athlete from a board-certified pediatrician. Additionally, participants will study the history of Title IX legislation and of girls' participation in sports.

The female-led coaching staff will include experienced adult coaches with teen/young adult assistant coaches and will be supplemented by a group of professional, female “guest of honor” speakers. This team will:

teach the fundamentals necessary to succeed at the high school level in cross country and track & field
train distance runners to succeed at cross country running and in the 1600-meter and 3200-meter track distance events
train middle distance runners to succeed in the 500-, 800-meter, and 1600-meter events run during Maryland indoor and outdoor track seasons
train sprinters to succeed in the 400-meter and shorter track events
help athletes understand health and nutrition issues that girls need to be particularly aware of when participating in a sports system that was designed around males
demonstrate how to alleviate the pressures that sometimes make it uncomfortable for girls to participate in sports
impart an understanding of how technical barriers to girls’ participation in sports – for instance, training programs created for males and gear that’s not designed for the female athlete – can be dealt with
show, through their experiences, how girls and women can both participate in sports and lead happy and fulfilling lives outside sport
provide role models of the happy, healthy and successful high school female athlete

Participants will have the opportunity to compete in outdoor youth track meets during the summer, if they are interested.

Most of all, this program will be filled with learning the joy of running and expressing oneself as a female athlete while preparing for a happy and healthy future. The same welcoming environment for athletes of all skill levels that exists in other TWR programs will pervade TWR’s Running Project IX.

Summer 2025 Program Information

TWR's Summer 2025 Running Project IX will run from June 2 through August 6.

Practices will be held on Mondays and Wednesdays in the early evenings at Wilde Lake High School. Attendance at all practices is encouraged but not required.

Practices will be 90-minutes long and consist of both running and educational instruction.

We will utilize both the WLHS track and fields behind the school.

Participation is open to girls who live in Howard County and will be in grades 6 through 10 in the fall of 2025.

Thank you for your interest. The 2025 Running Project IX program has reached capacity. If you would like to be placed on a waitlist for the program, please contact Coach Griffiths at coachgriffiths@twrdragons.com.