New leaders of Sioux Falls Women Run focus on connecting runners with community

If you run in Sioux Falls, you’ve probably heard of Sioux Falls Women Run.

The local nonprofit that grew out of a group of like-minded women on Facebook has been around since 2016 and now boasts more than 2,700 members. The group has a new board of directors, and we sat down with Glenda Bittner, executive director, to check in. Bittner previously served as treasurer for the board, which includes April Bolton, Emily Hutchinson and Iryna Schneider and is looking for a secretary.

What does SFWR offer?

We have the Facebook platform, which gives a community for women runners. We have group runs through that and also conversations on tips, tricks, advice and all sorts of things. It’s just a platform for women to connect.

The SFWR Training Team is a paid-membership group of about 55 women who meet as a group with coaches and do spring and fall track workouts and team-specific events such as hot yoga or strength training.

Jackie Meadors was the executive director. She’s been part of SFWR since the beginning, but she was ready to move on. She is staying as our coach for the training team, and she puts out Wednesday workouts on the Facebook group available to anyone.

We have a group that meets with Sanford POWER for a program specifically designed for runners. That is open to anyone. We have built that relationship with our personal trainer, and he has pushed us beyond where we would go. It’s so encouraging to have like-minded individuals pushing you to do your best.

Group runs are posted on the Facebook group, so there’s an opportunity for women to get together if they like that group setting. We have various runs throughout the week hosted by SFWR members

Talk about how you support young women.

The nonprofit also offers scholarships to high school senior girls. They don’t have to be planning to run in college. Maybe they ran all through high school. It’s based on grades and letters of recommendation, and they write an essay on how running has impacted their life. We had one recipient who joined cross-country her senior year because she wanted to meet new people.

The first year, we awarded a $500 scholarship. In 2022, we awarded $5,600 in scholarship money. We don’t limit the number of people – it really is based on what we get for applications.

We do fundraising events throughout the year for that scholarship. Our last ladies’ night, we raised $1,300 for the scholarship.

How can people get involved?

Community involvement is all posted on Facebook, along with group runs.

We want to be able to give back to the community. That’s one of our main missions.

What are you excited about?

I’m excited for the continued growth of SFWR. We have made such an impact in so many women’s lives, and I am so proud of that. I just want to continue to offer that community.

We have partnered with groups like the Family Visitation Center, Feeding South Dakota, the Feminine Hygiene Drive. I would love to see that continue and hopefully grow. I’m looking forward to other opportunities we can provide.

What does SFWR mean to you?

Some of my best friends came from meeting them through SFWR. To be able to connect with somebody and have that sense of community has been so wonderful. A girlfriend and I were on a run one day, and we were talking about how running is so therapeutic. It’s like therapy.

This has also provide me challenges that 10 years ago, if someone told me I would be running on trails or doing ultras or lifting heavy things, I would not have believed them one bit. But all of that came through my involvement with SFWR.

Within the group, we have women who can drop a 6-minute mile and women who do a 16-minute mile. And a mile is a mile is a mile, and you get that encouragement no matter where you are on that journey. You are a runner no matter what.