On Saturday, I ran what is probably my slowest-ever 5K. And I couldn't be prouder.

For the past 10 weeks, I've been part of an amazing program to encourage running, healthy habits, communication and all sorts of good stuff for young girls. My Girls On The Run team was one of three at Green Acres School in Manchester and one of nearly 40 in the state.

Yesterday, we came together for the first time in our final victory lap: a real-life 5K race.

Girls, their families and coaches started trickling into the Exeter High School field early. The energy was palpable. Imagine more than 400 girls, in grades 3 through 5, with butterflies in their stomach, about to run their first 5K.

To say things were a bit chaotic at times would be an understatement. I'm sure my fellow coaches, most of whom are teachers, are used to rounding up kids and doing repeated headcounts. For someone whose daily life revolves more around a desk and computer, keeping track of my little teammates was quite a task, especially since they were all in the same T-shirts and, for many, similar swinging ponytails.

We put on our bib numbers (all #1 for this race!) and posed, seriously and not-so-seriously, while dozens of proud parents snapped pictures. We put on temporary tattoos, signed each other's bib numbers and fixed our ponytails.

Then it was down to business. We stretched and did team cheers before heading to the starting line, where the girls, their families and other running buddies crowded together.

And we were off. Sort of.

The crowd forced us to walk and half-jog, on and off, for a while, like the start of many races. When you factor in a race full of mostly first-timers, things become even more chaotic.

Soon, everyone found their pace — or at least tried to. Pacing has been a bit of a challenge for most of the program. Although we've gotten better at it, there's often a tendency for the girls start as fast as they can — which they quickly learn can't be sustained for long.

I jogged alongside my co-coach, who was also running her first 5K. I somehow lost her in the hectic scene, amid the abundant cheers from the spectators and the challenge of dodging the start-and-stop method of many little runners.

Eventually, I caught up with a few girls on my team. We ran together to the first water stop. It was there that I suddenly realized that we should have covered water stop tips in our practice sessions. The stop was crowded and everyone tried to grab a cup from the volunteers at the front of the line.

Forgetting that the girls hadn't run races before, it didn't occur to me to tell them to take a cup and keep moving, even walk, to clear some of the congestion at the table. Most stood and drank the whole cup right there. I realized that they also didn't know that it was okay to throw the cup on the ground. They've been taught littering is bad, right? I took an empty cup from one of the girls about a half-mile from the stop.

In the frenzy of the water stop, a couple of the girls hung back. They were friends and running together, so I knew they would be okay. I focused on running with Isabella, the youngest runner on our team, and her step-sister. We counted down miles and cones and took very few walk breaks. We gave high-fives, smiled for cameras and encouraged each other.

As we approached the final stretch, they picked up the pace, crossing the finish line with a sprint and a smile.

I couldn't be prouder of them — and all of the girls — not only for finishing the 5K, but for everything they have put into the program. I hope someday they look back at their flashy little medal and remember all of the important lessons they learned — and just how good it feels to cross a finish line.

Congratulations, girls.

Teresa Robinson is Community Relations Manager for the New Hampshire Union Leader. Her column appears every other week in the New Hampshire Sunday News. Her email address is trobinson@unionleader.com.