The community is invited to try and keep up with a group of energetic Justus Gage runners on Saturday, during the annual Van Buren/Cass Counties Girls on the Run 5K event.

The annual run will begin at 9 a.m. at the Decatur Track and Field complex, at 110 Cedar St. Teams of third- through fifth-grade girls, hailing from school districts throughout the two counties, will participate in the run, which will begin at the track and weave through the streets of Decatur.

The public is invited to join in the run as well. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m., and costs $30, which includes an event T-shirt. Children under 5 may also participate for free, though parents must register them before the run begins.

“It [the run] is quite the event to see,” said Stephanie Pinkowski, the Dowagiac liaison for the program. “Hundreds of people come out for the event. It is very well organized.”

A group of 17 girls from Justus Gage will be among the runners during Saturday’s event. First-grade teacher Nancy Northrop and Title I instructor Tennille Michalak stepped up this year to coach the team, who have met twice a week for the past 10 weeks to prepare for the big day.

While the program is ostensibly about getting elementary girls into shape for a 5K run, the lessons the coaches share with the students during practices run far deeper than working on cardio and calisthenics. Throughout the last several months, Northrop and Michalak have led the girls through exercises concentrating on teaching them how to compromise, to make and be a good friend, to find the power within themselves, among other lessons, the coaches said.

“It is the kind of program we wish we all had when we were growing up,” Pinkowski said. “I love it. There are some wonderful people who chose to get involved with it.”

The girls also helped organize a community service project through this year’s programs, making up goodie baskets to send to residents of the local nursing home. The students dropped by The Timbers of Cass County to visit the residents on Tuesday, much to the delight of the people living there, Pinkowski said.

This is the first year that Northrop and Michalak have volunteered to coach, they said. The two said they were enthralled with the program not only because it encouraged the girls to focus on their health, but also because, through working out, the girls discover new things about themselves and what they can accomplish.

“It shows the girls that whatever they set out to do, if they work hard enough for it, is possible,” Michalak said. “It shows them that nothing is unreachable.”

For information about the event or how to register to run or volunteer, people may visit vbcassdhd.org/health-promotion/girls-on-the-run/5k.