The running group is part of a larger nonprofit also called BIO Girls, whose programming is aimed at empowering adolescent girls. The BIO in BIO Girls stands for “Beautiful, Inside and Out,” said Site Director Kristina Hokenson.

The nonprofit began in Fargo and now various BIO Girls programs can be found across North Dakota, Minnesota, South Dakota, Iowa and Wisconsin.

“We brought it to Minot seven years ago,” Hokenson said.

Hokenson and Lindsay Hoes have been leading the Minot girls group as site directors for the past seven years. Site directors are the main volunteers responsible for facilitating the program and the 12 program sessions.

Audin Rhodes/MDN The BIO Girls Running Group meets once a week at Leach Park for 90-minute sessions that combine self-esteem lessons with noncompetitive physical activity.

The BIO Girls program is geared toward girls between second and sixth grades (roughly ages 7-12 years old) and combines self-esteem building lessons with physical activity.

“Every week we have a lesson, so we talk about things like self-esteem building, friendship, anti-bullying, social media use and more,” Hokenson said. “Many of the lessons resonate with the adults in the group as well.”

Each lesson contains a large group discussion and small group discussion.

“We have 10 adult mentors and every mentor group has three or four girls in it,” Hokenson said. The large group discussion includes a lecture about the week’s specific theme. Afterward, the girls break off with their adult mentors into their small-group discussions, which may include additional activities.

“For example, this week we’re talking about failure. The girls will have to try and do a couple different projects they’re likely going to fail at,” Hokenson said. “Then we’ll discuss what failure feels like and how it’s OK to fail and how you learn from it.”

The lesson is only the first half of the BIO Girls weekly meeting. The second half starts when the sneakers hit the pavement.

“We meet, we do the lessons and then we run,” Hokenson said. “So today, I think we’re running around two miles. We’re training for a 5K so we’re working up to that three-mile mark.”

The group is preparing to run its 5K this month as its final event of the year.

“We do the Run the Route 5K during the North Dakota State Fair. That’s always our finale,” Hokenson said.

The 5K is Saturday, July 20, starting at 8:45 a.m. The route starts at Our Redeemer’s Church and finishes at the State Fair’s Gate E entrance on Burdick Expressway.

Hokenson’s daughter, Nora, 10, explained her desire to run in a group with her fellow BIO Girls.

“I think it’s very important. It keeps you motivated a lot, and the best part is when you get to the end and there’s people who finished before you, and everybody is clapping for you and high-fiving,” Nora said.

Another of Nora’s favorite things about the group is meeting new people and doing fun activities together.

“Last week we had a really cool volunteer project at Matthew 25. That was really fun to do,” she said. The girls’ volunteer efforts at the Matthew 25 Project included taking clothes off the racks and organizing miscellaneous items.

Nora is going into fifth grade this fall and wants to be a junior mentor for the BIO Girls in the future. The junior mentor position is for girls who have graduated from the BIO Girls program or who have never been in the program but are older adolescents looking for leadership opportunities.

Hokenson said the BIO Girls nonprofit has some teen programming as well. BIO Teens was introduced in 2022 and contains programming geared toward girls between grades 6-11.

“One of my colleagues and I ran a Body Image Teen Group last year. That’s a little bit of a different set-up with smaller groups and we don’t train for anything,” Hokenson said. “It’s more lesson based and the programming looks different.” Last year was Hokenson’s first year as site director for BIO Teens.

The BIO Girls programming also includes nondenominational Christian devotions.

“There is a devotion piece for part of the lessons, giving the lesson its shape,” Hokenson said.

The devotion sections are used to help set the foundation for the lessons and are not aimed at excluding anyone. Hokenson said any girl is welcome, regardless of faith, beliefs and background.

“(BIO Girls) started out as Christian based but it’s not meant to be exclusive. It’s open to everybody,” Hokenson said. She also said there are secular BIO Girls programs as well, which ultimately depend on the site directors and how they want to run their specific program with their specific groups of girls.

Regardless of program differences, all BIO Girls programming aims to increase the self worth of girls so they feel beautiful, both inside and out.

“What we’ve noticed as the girls go through the program is they develop more confidence and better movement from working towards a goal. Running isn’t everyone’s favorite by any means. But being able to still accomplish a goal together is huge,” Hokenson said. “The girls are also learning how to support each other, which is so cool. They cheer each other on, help each other and learn how to celebrate somebody else and be excited for them.”