Going the Distance | 200 Runners Compete in Race at Case

It was a beautiful day for a race on May 16. There was plenty of excitement and chatter in the air for the 14th annual Race at Case CLC.

There were 200 participants in the Race for Case – 1-mile and 5K competition. The races attracted current and former students, parents, siblings, neighbors, teachers, staff and a school board member.

Case CLC fifth grader Oliver Purcell was the first runner to cross the finish line and won first place in the 1-mile race.

“I feel good,” he said as he drank a bottle of water. “It was fun. I run track and cross country. It’s not my personal best time (7:10) but it was pretty crowded at the start of the race.”

His finish time was 8:20.

His father watched his son on the sidelines of the designated race route.

“He loves this stuff,” said his father, Chris. “At one point the police car was chasing him. He got boxed in at the start,”

His mother, Joy Purcell, was also there to support her son. She said their next stop was to head over to a city series track meet to watch Oliver’s twin brothers compete.

There was a mother-daughter pair who ran in honor of Cheryl Boiigegrain, a longtime music teacher at Case, who is now retired. “She taught my kids how to read music and sing and to just really appreciate music,” said Liedrith Heid. ”She was a great teacher.”

Her daughter, Sarah Heid, the former student, said she attended Case many many years ago adding that the duo have been running the race for 14 years.

Forty-six-year old Kevin Murphy won first place in the 5K race. He finished the race in 6:28 minutes. Violet Tschantz was the first female to cross the finish line in the 5K race.

It was the first time seventh grader Violet Tschantz, a student at Miller-South, ran in the race. Her father, David Tschantz, also a runner, remembered seeing the race last year and got his family involved this year. He has three children and all of them run cross country and track.

“I just watched this time, but I am running in a Cleveland marathon,” Tschantz said.

After crossing the finish line, Violet and her father quickly went back to the race route to wait and cheer on the rest of the family. Violet also cheered for eight of her St. Sebastian track and cross country teammates who also entered the race.

A group of runners posed for an after race picture calling themselves Akron’s Finest or the Nursing Home Runners. They said they didn’t have an official group name, but liked to get together every Saturday and race somewhere. They heard about the Case Race and were all in. They ranged in age from the mid 60’s to 84 years old.

Candace Eason arrived with her son, Ayden Collins, 12, a sixth-grader at Case CLC. She was also pushing a buggy with her baby. “Oh I’m not running. I’m walking. But my son is running. I’m just here to support the school.”

Walking alongside her was another parent, Virginia Anthony, who also brought her son, 8-year-old Jaxston Thomas, a third grader at Case CLC.

“We’re letting the boys race, but yes we’re just walking,” she said.

Third grade classmates Dynasty Jones and Mia Hopkins, at Case CLC, ran the race and decided to grab curbside seats to cheer on those behind them. This was their second year in the race.

School board member Phil Montgomery joined the event. He ran the 5K race and finished in just over 11 minutes.

The idea for the race came about 15 years ago and was the brainchild of Craig Sampsell, Sarah Core and Jennifer Victor during lunchtime in the school’s cafeteria.

“We were bouncing around ideas and dreams and we were investigating what it would take to become an IB (International Baccalaureate) school and what our needs would be,” said Jennifer Victor. “The only barrier was the funding. We also wanted to have something that was open to our students, families and staff, but also pulled in the community.”

The first year of the race the school raised enough money to create a computer lab and purchase document learning. The money was also used for some software, printers, cameras and keyboards. In the following years, there were playground upgrades including wheelchair and stroller accessibility.

“We have focused on resources and supplies for the greenhouse, access to resources teachers want and field trips for all,” Victor said.

Last year, the funds from Race for Case gave access for all teachers to have a subscription to Mystery Science and for all the students to go see the play Matilda at Miller South. This year’s race netted about $5,000. The funds will go to the needs of the classrooms including field trips and supplies for the greenhouse.

All of the race funding goals have been supported financially by a few staff members serving on a grant team with the school’s PTA.