POLSON — For Polson Middle School gym teacher Cindy Templer, there’s nothing better than the sense of accomplishment she feels after crossing the finish line of a half marathon. Completing the race, celebrating with friends and family, the smiles and hugs, the joy surrounding the event – all those things and more inspired her to found “Team They,” a running group for girls at PMS.

There are no organized practices; there is no mandatory training regimen, just a hand-made bleach-dyed T-shirt for a uniform and a guarantee that if you show up for a local running event, you’ll have a friend to run with and plenty of cheerleaders along the way. Templer even provides her runners with a goodie-bag of snacks and a Gatorade on race day.

For years, Templer herself has participated in Rock & Roll Half Marathons in cities across the country.

“Every time I do it, I just feel really inspired,” she said. “There’s nothing better than finishing a race and having people around to support you.”

After last year’s Live Locally 5K in Polson, Templer said many people around town seemed to agree; they too felt really good having done the event. When she started the program shortly after in 2009, she thought she might have five, maybe 10 girls sign up. Instead, there were 95 names on the list.

“I was a little overwhelmed,” she said. “But it was exciting that there was that need in the community.”

Templer recruited a few fellow teachers to help walk, run or supervise the group, arranged an after school T-shirt decorating party, and suddenly, Team They was official. This year, 75 girls signed up to be a part.

“It’s such an amazing, empowering program for those girls,” Catherine Young, mother of seventh grade runner Claire, said. “It gives them some confidence and a sense of purpose. I hope they will be inspired to get out of their comfort zone more often.”

For many, it’s all about belonging. Especially at the middle school age, students struggle with ways to fit in, some make better choices than others in that respect. As a part of Team They, the girls belong. They wear their team shirts in school on the Friday before an event and hang out as a team after the race, usually stopping for pizza in town.

“At least they’re not sitting at home, texting,” Young said.

Since some members of her team can’t afford to enter the races, Templer has had to reach out to the community for additional support. The community has stepped up and made sure that no student would be left out because they couldn’t afford to participate. Whether it was Total Screen Design donating the team shirts, or Polson’s Running Club waiving entry fees for her runners, Templer has been able to keep the excitement alive and the team together.

Even if they can’t run because of injury, or because they haven’t yet mustered up the courage to try, the girls are all encouraged to come to the events and cheer on their friends. Everyone has a role; everyone matters. Last Thursday, as the snow was falling and the wind howling, seventh grader Claire Young stood smiling at the finish line, waiting for her lone teammate Nicole Lake to finish the race. Young couldn’t run due to an injury, but she and her whole family came out anyway, just for support.

A seventh grader as well, Lake had done running races before with her dad, but thought it would be fun to do them with a team of her peers.

“The thing about this is you can always find someone to run with,” Lake said. “You just have to get your friends out.”

From the start, experienced runners like Lake were able to fill a leadership role, just like any sports team.

“They can say, ‘You can do the three miles, I’ve done it,’” Templer said. “I’m hoping these seventh grade girls will be the ones to encourage next years’ seventh graders to get involved.”

Some of the girls have even decided to take their newfound love of running to the middle school and high school cross country teams.

“It’s been really rewarding for me to see these kids feel they really accomplished something,” Templer said. “I hope they’ll develop a lifelong feeling of community and sense of accomplishment.”

And what about the name?

Templer said the name came from a joke.

“[In school,] we’re always saying, who’s ‘they’ and why do we listen to them?” she said. “We decided that we’d be Team They, and we’d be the ones telling something.”