Black Girls RUN! Looking for Runners for Trenton Marathon

What started as a blog to raise awareness about obesity has turned into a club with more than 60,000 members across the nation. Black Girls RUN! is no joke.

According to their website, runners Toni Carey and Ashley Hicks started the group back in 2009 to address what has become a serious problem in the black community. Carey and Hicks wanted to encourage women to "make fitness and healthy living a priority."

The group says the movement now has over 69 running groups in 30 states and continues to grow. There are no Philadelphia-area chapters listed on the group's website, but that might change real soon. Black Girls RUN! is making a move into the Tri-State Area by partnering with the Trenton Half Marathon and 10K in New Jersey.

According to a release from the marathon, Black Girls RUN! brought almost 300 runners to the 2012 run and seriously energized the event with a rousing cheering section and pre-race dance party.

"The atmosphere that they created and the number of participants were just amazing," Brian Barry, Trenton Half Marathon Event Director said in the release. "They were a group that we wanted to be a part of this race and hope to expand on their participation in 2013."

With Trenton only an hour away, local ladies looking for some inspiration and support in their efforts to stay healthy have an opportunity to find just that with the Black Girls RUN!-Trenton Half Marathon partnership. The run is slated for Saturday, Nov, 9.

To find out how you can start a local Black Grils RUN! group, fill out this contact from on the group's website.