Clara’s Run in memory of Clara Robinson was May 13 and this was a one-mile run for George Washington Elementary second, third and fourth grade students at the high school track.
Clara and her father, Will Robinson, who was the Durant Lady Lions basketball head coach, died in a Christmas Eve car accident in Sherman, Texas. Clara was a second grader at George Washington.
George Washington School said in a social media post, “At the first of the year, these students started training in PE to be able to run a mile by the end of the school year. As we all know, Clara Robinson was one of these students. She was passionate about running and was determined to be able to run that mile. Not only will these students run for their own accomplishment, but they will also run for Clara.”
Reis Geiger was a classmate and friend of Clara.
“I grew up with her and I was really close to her and I’ve always wanted to run two miles but I never had the time,” Geiger said, after the run. “So, this was an honor for Clara. We were supposed to run one mile but in honor for Clara, I went ahead and I ran two miles.
“It made me feel really happy and I wish she was here right now, so we could run together because we grew up together.”
George Washington Principal Valerie Crabtree said coaches Edie Powell and Mike Dills organized the run.
“At the beginning of the school year, they had a challenge for our second, third and fourth grade students to be able to run a mile by the end of the year and Clara was one of our students and that was a challenge for her,” Crabtree said. “She was very athletic and she loved a challenge. So, she wanted to be able to run this mile. We felt like with everything that’s happened through the tragedy, this was a way that we could honor her with a run for Clara today.”
Crabtree said Clara was an imaginative and creative girl that was loved by all. She was not just a student. Her mother Kristen Robinson was the speech pathologist at George Washington.
“Clara was at school with us since the time that she was little and before school, after school and so Clara was just a kind, loving, free spirit,”Crabtree said. “There’s not a day that you walk into the school that you don’t feel that loss. It’s been a difficult time and we just wanted to come together today and celebrate the life that Clara. That’s what this run was about today.”
Crabtree said the tragedy is the most difficult thing she has endured in 24 years in education.
“I think that we all were able to get through it from the support of the community and also just leaning on one another,” Crabtree said. “At the end of the day, it’s about the Robinson family and us loving them and supporting them.We wouldn’t have made it through without the support of our community and our George Washington friends, our school district and colleagues. So, it’s been difficult and it’s been a really hard road.”
She also credited the strength of the Robinson family as helping them get through this all together. Crabtree said the run was a challenge for the students.
“It’s difficult for seven, eight year old kids to run a mile and this is kind of the culmination of life,” Crabtree said. “We go through really difficult, hard things that you put one foot in front of the other. That’s the only thing that you can do and so we have some kids today that really struggled on the run and it was because of the support they had on the sidelines, their parents, the cheerleaders, the basketball players cheering them on that got them to finish the race. We finished the race today. All of her second-grade friends finished the race in Clara’s honor.”
George Washington second graders run in honor of Clara Robinson.
