Adidas helps women stay fit, beat pandemic blues with Girls Can Run

MANILA, Philippines — During the COVID-19 pandemic, staying fit and keeping yourself connected with other people have been two of the biggest challenges for an every day citizen.

Forced to stay at home and out of our regular routine before the health crisis hit, it is difficult to get ourselves out there in keeping our body active and maintaining our social relationships.

But sports giant adidas has recently hit two birds with one stone with their recent project called Girls Can Run.

A three-month training and mentorship program specifically designed for women, GCR was able to tend to the needs of some 15 participants both physically and mentally.

Participants in the GCR program prepared to clock their best 10K run which culminated the 3-month long program

Courtesy of adidas

Philstar.com recently spoke to GCR coach Nylah Bautista about the program that ended in August and how it helped the participants' mind and body.

"Despite the lockdown, we were setting mini goals for them to achieve, and in the absence of races, this was something that we can do to keep everyone moving and to keep everyone on their toes in terms of physical fitness," said Bautista.

"All of us learned together, all of us trained together in order to achieve our best 10k [run] after 12 weeks," she added.

Adding to the fitness goals was a way to also help with the mental challenges presented by the pandemic, though.

And as Bautista was able to see from her participnts in the program, GCR was able to help just as much, if not more, in the girls' psyche.

Apart from helping the runners achieve their fitness goals, the GCR program was also able to help them connect during time of pandemic

Courtesy of adidas

"It helped in terms of alleviating mental health issues, the importance of this [GCR] community is that we created a family," said Bautista.

"We know that we can talk to someone at any point of the day, not even talking about running... With this community, they found not only running buddies but friends," she added. "I think that's the msot important takeaway that we had in this GCR,"

All this, despite the pandemic still limiting the program. With health and safety protocols in place, GCR had to adapt.

Physical sessions were limited, and the 15-woman group was broken into batches of five. Masks were also required for the runners.

"We've been very mindful of the protocols set by the IATF," said Bautista.

Learn more about the GCR program on adidas Runners Manila here.