Runners, running buddies, coaches, volunteers, and spectators gathered Saturday morning at East Stroudsburg University for the Girls on the Run Lehigh Valley and Pocono 5K event.

“I did it,” said Kennedy Beim. “My friend Lilly and my mom kept me motivated during the race and to finish it.”

Beim, a fourth-grade student at Pleasant Valley Intermediate School, completed her first 5K race as part of the PVI Girls on the Run team.

As she neared the finish line, it was Lilly Livingston and Nicole Beim who inspired her change in pace from a slow walking speed to a quick dash through the finish line to collect her medal from PVI Principal Sabrina Albright.

Albright and Kendal Askins, principal of the Pleasant Valley Middle School, were at the finish line to hand out medals to their respective students. Heart & Sole is the middle school program.

The 3.1-mile race included part of the university’s track and then out through a gate to run near campus apartments. Race marshals cheered on the runners and kept them on the route.

“It feels good to be done with the run. What I love about Girls on the Run is that it’s fun and I get to make new friends,” said Livingston.

The PVI team has 21 members - 18 ran on Saturday. They were joined by 20 running buddies, their five coaches and two junior coaches, who were there to provide support.

“I have enjoyed seeing the girls grow in confidence. I have seen a lot of their self-reflection and realization that they can do this,” said Rachel Frable, a PVI Girls on the Run coach.

Her daughter, Kensington Frable, is in second grade and on the team. She completed her first race with her cousin and running buddy, Aubrey Frable, a ninth-grade student at Palmerton Area School District.

Ella Rufo, Pleasant Valley Middle School Heart and Sole, and her sister, Ryleigh Rufo, PVI Girls on the Run, were excited to share their run time of 27:30 minutes with family and friends afterward.

“It is awesome to see all these girls build their confidence, make new friends and accomplish a 5K,” said Jen Rufo, their mother and a PVI coach.

Alison Fennell, Pocono Region program director, called Saturday’s event a celebration of all the girls have accomplished in 10 weeks. Girls on the Run and Heart and Sole meet after school twice a week. The program helps participants achieve fitness goals, learn life skills and enhance self-esteem.

“We had an amazing fall season. Your remarkable achievement, incredible dedication, perseverance and strength are so obvious today,” Fennell said to the crowd of runners before the race began.

There were 150 Girls on the Run and Heart & Sole members, 100 running buddies, 70 volunteers, 27 coaches and 5 junior coaches who participated Saturday, said Fennell.

Nancy Ryan and Elizabeth Law coach the PVMS Heart & Sole team.

The Girls on the Run Lehigh Valley and Pocono program serves eight counties in Pennsylvania: Monroe, Pike, Wayne, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Carbon, Northampton; and Wayne County, New Jersey.

Teams from Monroe County and part of Northampton County ran at ESU on Saturday. Carbon, Lehigh, and the rest of Northampton County’s teams had their race Sunday at DeSales University.