VALDOSTA — Nov. 13 is now Claire Walton Day in Valdosta.

The honor is in recognition of Claire Walton, founder of Girls on the Run South Georgia. She is the agency’s former executive director, board member and nonprofit consultant.

Georgia State Rep. John LaHood presented the proclamation in Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson’s absence during the Girls on the Run end of season 5K held Nov. 13 at Fellowship Home at Brookside.

The 5K was a belated birthday celebration. Girls on the Run could not observe its fifth birthday last year due to the pandemic.

Walton could not attend the 5K due to a personal matter but she said the recognition came as a surprise to her. As LaHood read the proclamation, agency board member Justin Purvis FaceTimed Walton so she and her mother could watch.

“It’s an incredible honor that there’s a day in Valdosta for me,” Walton told The Valdosta Daily Times. “I still can’t totally grasp that. It’s pretty exceptional. I appreciate that they went out of their way to do something special to honor me.”

The proclamation detailed Walton’s efforts with Girls on the Run, including steps taken to establish the organization and progress made since then.

It reads: “Whereas, Claire Walton met with representatives from several local schools, was able to secure two sites, Westside Elementary and W.G. Nunn Elementary, for the fall season of 2015 where 26 girls completed a 5K run, and she quickly began working on securing more schools for the spring season of 2016.

“(And) whereas, under the leadership of Claire Walton, the Council has since expanded into more than 16 elementary schools and one middle school in Cook, Lowndes, Lanier, and Brooks counties, has now served more than 1,000 participants, and they continue to look to expand to all of the local schools …“

Mary Crawford, Girls on the Run executive director, initiated the process to have Claire Walton Day, Walton said.

Crawford spoke highly of Walton and Girls on the Run, noting the program’s ability to assist girls in the community.

“I’m so pleased to follow Claire Walton as the executive director of Girls on the Run South Georgia. Claire’s vision is what drives the agenda for our organization. She has been a tremendous mentor and a constant source of knowledge and energy,” she said.

“The mission of Girls on the Run is to inspire girls to be joyful, healthy and confident using a fun, experience-based curriculum which creatively integrates running. And because of the foundation created by Claire Walton, we are meeting the needs of young girls in our community through our program of encouragement and exercise.”

Girls on the Run is an all-girl, after-school program that utilizes 5Ks and running laps to educate third- to eighth-grade students on the importance of life skills.

Two of the skills learned are conflict management and how to set and reach goals.

“This is how we’re going to train our young girls to be the leaders of tomorrow, and our world needs strong women,” Walton said. “They need strong teenagers and they need strong girls, and each step forward we make as an organization helps our future.”

She started Girls on the Run six years ago with her daughter, Tierney and Tierney’s friends in mind.

Walton said she saw the potential in the program and knew that it could one day be bigger than it was formerly.

Girls on the Run is about more than simply running. It’s geared toward assisting the participants in accomplishing goals.

However the participants complete the 5K course, they finish, and then, they return to the course to cheer on their peers. Walton said they’re all teammates rather than competitors.

“It’s pretty amazing,” she said. “It’s hard to get that experience anywhere else. To watch the girls go back on the course to go get their teammates over and over and over again is pretty exceptional, and they run through that finish line holding hands.”

Young girls are going to face pressures, but Walton said Girls on the Run helps these youths handle the pressures.

“These young ladies that we have in our community are just gold,” she said. “They are so special and they’re all so different. … We really focus that in the long run, it doesn’t matter what you look like on the outside. It matters what’s on the inside and that you have compassion and you have intellect and you can have a conversation with a friend or a teacher.”

With impact from the pandemic, Walton removed herself from a paid staff member to board member in 2020 in efforts to reduce costs for the agency.

Being mindful of Girls on the Run monetary needs was familiar to Walton, who did not receive a paycheck for several years upon organizing the nonprofit.

“I did it all because I felt so passionately about the program and about the need for the program,” she said. “Girls on the Run serves all girls. …”

Due to a recent grant, the agency is looking to expand into Berrien and Echols counties by 2022, Tift County by 2023 and Colquitt County by 2024.

Walton said it’s her desire that people understand how beautiful and wonderful they as themselves.

She further fulfills this purpose by working as a volunteer advisor for the Valdosta-Lowndes County Family YMCA team leader’s club.

She also created CSW Advisory Services, a nonprofit management consulting business and works as a travel advisor.

Walton said she wants to build and form opportunities that promote belonging.

“I want to make the world a better place everyday. I feel very passionate that we are blessed to be alive, and I really want to leave the world a bit better by little actions everyday, so giving people a place to feel that they belong and that they’re important and that they’re worthy is so important,” she said.

“We have a community where our children are connected and disconnected because of a telephone and other reasons. I really feel like humans need to know that they belong and that they’re important and that they are accepted.”