Kicking Off Our Second Cohort: New Runners, Same Spirit

We’re excited to share that our second Juniper Kyz cohort is officially underway!

This June, we welcomed 11 incredible participants—7 fully funded and 4 on a membership basis—into a new 6-week season of running, growth, and community. Following the success of our pilot program in the spring, this new group includes both beginner and intermediate runners based in Bishkek. Some are lacing up for the first time, others are continuing their journey with us—and all are showing up with courage and commitment.

Week 1 Highlights

We kicked off our first session at 7 PM in Adinai Park with classic icebreakers (“two truths and a lie”) to get to know one another. After warm-ups, we split into two training groups:

• Beginner group coached by Salima Asanbaeva, an alumna of our pilot program

• Intermediate group coached by Salima Aisultanova and co-founder Lily Nemirovsky

Participants ran loops around the park while learning about breathing, posture, and pacing. Lily also introduced balance exercises to activate small stabilizing muscles and help prevent injuries. After cooling down, we wrapped up with post-run snacks and a reminder of why refueling matters for recovery.

By Thursday, we were already building leadership. Each girl shared a favorite cool-down stretch before beginning the session. Runs followed a similar format—with slightly shorter walking intervals to gently increase intensity for beginners.

On Saturday, we met bright and early at 6 AM at the sports stadium. The intermediate group did a 40-minute easy run, while beginners followed a structured interval plan (2 minutes running, 1 minute walking, repeated 10 times). Coach Salima Aisultanova also introduced the group to СБУ, a set of strength and mobility drills to support healthy movement patterns.

This 6-week summer session has already kicked off with energy, curiosity, and community spirit. We’re proud of every runner already—and grateful to all of our supporters who helped make this second cohort possible.

Follow our journey here or on Instagram at @juniper_kyz. And if you’d like to learn more about our pilot program, you can read the full report here.

Let’s run, grow, and lead—together.