I’m excited to share that I’ll be leading a group run on Wednesday mornings for the lovely ladies of Black Girls Run in Atlanta. While they offer many group runs all over the Metro Atlanta Area in the early morning or after work, there weren’t any mid-morning runs set up for those of us who prefer to get moving AFTER the kids get on the school bus, or those who work late, for the college gals, or those who simply want to run mid-morning.

For those who might not be familiar with BGR, it was started in 2009, in an effort to tackle the growing obesity epidemic in the African-American community and provide encouragement and resources to both new and veteran runners. The mission is to encourage African-American women to make fitness and healthy living a priority. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 80% of African-American women are overweight. That’s an insane percentage that has got to change.

I applaud BGR for encouraging and clearly making a huge difference in getting black women to exercise. The photo above was taken at their first BGR Drive to End Hunger Race Weekend where 3,000 runners came together and raised $22,000 for charity.

Encouraging women of ALL backgrounds to take care of themselves is important to me and something that I strive to do daily. Many of the health related problems that women face can be cured or at least helped with exercise and healthy eating.

If you live in the Atlanta Metro Area and would like to run with us on Wednesday mornings I’d love to have you come out. ALL ladies and fitness levels are welcome. You can find more information in the BGR Atlanta Facebook group.

Winks & Smiles,