The 85 members of the Butler Run Club, comprised of fifth and sixth-grade girls coached by Mandy Rekich (kneeling at far left) sport their T-shirts.

Mandy Rekich likes to run.

A speech therapist at Butler Middle School, she thought a few of the students might like to do the same.

“I’m not a professional runner or anything,” Rekich said. “I’ve done some 5Ks and a half-marathon ... I wanted to offer a free running club for fifth and sixth-grade girls in our school who might be interested.

“I figured my daughter would like it, maybe a few of her friends, we’d wind up with 20 or so.”

Guess again. 85.

“Didn’t see that coming at all,” Rekich admitted.

Known simply as The Run Club, Rekich and the girls have been meeting each Monday and Thursday for eight weeks. The girls are taught life lessons at each meeting, have a snack and water, then conclude the day with a 30-minute run on the track at the Butler athletic field.

“It’s at the bottom of the hill from the school. We just walk down there,” Rekich said.

Among the lessons taught during the club meetings have been positive body thinking, friendship skills, healthy eating, yoga and goal setting. A nutritionist and yoga instructor have been among the club’s invited guests.

The Run Club will end its activity for the year by running in the Butler YMCA Turkey Trot, a 5K event this Saturday.

Ella Rekich, Mandy’s daughter, is involved in soccer, dance and basketball along with the running club. Most of the club members are not involved in other organized activities.

“When I first formed this club, I looked into some of the other organized running programs out there and they were expensive,” Rekich said. “I wanted to make this free and available to all of the girls.

“The only fee involved is paying for the Turkey Trot registration. Girls who cannot afford that, we have teachers sponsoring them.”

To help the girls keep track of their progress while running laps at the athletic field, Rekich collected 800 popsicle sticks and has written a message on each one.

“They just say things like ‘good job’ or ‘way to go,’ little words of encouragement,” she said. “Each time a girl completes a lap, she’s handed one of those sticks. It helps them to keep track of how many laps they’re doing.

“The majority of these girls had never done any running prior to joining this club.”

As a volunteer exercise, The Run Club is working on making mats that will eventually be given to homeless people in the area.

“It’s a form of giving back, of helping out others,” Rekich said. “Each girl brought in some plastic bags and we’ve shown them how to convert them into plastic yarn that can be used to crochet those mats.”

The Run Club will make its return next year for a second season.

“We’ll be a little better prepared for a number of girls that will match, or even exceed, how many we had participate this year,” Rekich said.