By Emily Younker
Globe Staff Writer
JOPLIN, Mo. —
Sixth-grader Lexie Vaught found a burst of energy as she ran down the final stretch of her mile-long run Saturday morning, well ahead of the other girls in her race.
“I was pacing myself until I got to the end,” she said. “It was amazing (to cross the finish line).”
Vaught, who placed first in her division at the Charles Spradling Kids’ Classic Fun Run, also had high praise for the other sixth-graders who ran with her.
“All the girls did really well,” she said, giving high-fives to her competitors as they came off the track.
The 24th annual Kids’ Classic race for students in kindergarten through sixth grade was held Saturday at Missouri Southern State University. Darla Armstrong, who has coordinated the event for the past 14 years, estimated roughly 800 students from Joplin, Webb City, Carl Junction, Carthage, Neosho and Lamar schools ran in the race at distances ranging from one-fourth of a mile to one mile.
Armstrong said her goal in organizing the race each year is to teach children how to live a healthier, more active lifestyle.
As soon as Keaton Campbell, a fourth-grader at Stapleton Elementary in Joplin, came off the track from her one-mile race, she boasted to her parents that she had run the entire distance.
“It was hard,” she said. “I didn’t want to stop running.”
Her father, Brandon Campbell, said the race was a good way for his children to spend their Saturday morning.
“It’s just fun (for them) to come out and see all their friends and get out on the track and get rid of some of their energy,” he said.
Autumn Barroeta, a third-grader at Mark Twain Elementary School in Webb City, said after her one-half-mile race that she likes to run.
“It’s a lot of fun,” she said. “You get to run with a lot of third-grade girls.”
Her mother, Alisa Barroeta, said she was proud of her daughter.
“I was so excited that she kept in there and never stopped running,” she said. “She did a good job. She did her best, and that’s what I told her was the most important thing.”
Barroeta also said she appreciated the athletic event for its ability to draw in students from the Four-State Area.
“It brings the community together, and I think that’s a positive thing,” she said.
Fifth-grader Davin Conway, of Sarcoxie, said after his one-mile run that he was happy with his performance.
“It felt good to be done and to be close to someone (who had been) way ahead of you,” he said. “I pace myself, and when you get to the downhill (part of the track), you try to take long strides and push, and you can sprint easy.”
Kailey Williams, a sixth-grader at Joplin’s South Middle School, said she has participated in the Kids’ Classic each year since kindergarten. She said this year’s race, her last, was harder than usual because it was chilly and windy.
But she looks forward to it each year, said her mother, Shelly Williams.
“We’re glad that she’s involved in something like this,” Williams said.
Distances
Students in fourth through sixth grades ran one mile. Second- and third-graders ran half of a mile. Kindergartners and first-graders ran one-fourth of a mile. The top six runners in each grade, divided into boys’ and girls’ groups, received medals.
