Aspen Robinson will be running for Rhodes College with her scholarship signing. CONTRIBUTED

MADISON – Aspen Robinson likes running because of the way it makes her feel.

“There are days where I’m exhausted, and my legs feel like they’re going to fall off or days where I reach a meditative state during my run and feel like I could run forever,” Aspen said. “Those days make me feel incredible, and, no matter what I have going on in my life, I can go for a run and trust that I will feel better.”

Aspen runs 5k in cross country and distance events (800m, 1600m and 3200m) in track/field for Bob Jones High School. “I love cross country and track both equally,” she said. Aspen recently signed with Rhodes College to continue her track career.

A senior at Bob Jones High School, Aspen is a member of the National Honor Society, National Technical Honors Society and HOSA.

Aspen’s sister, Lillie, is a freshman at Arizona State University. Their brother, Colby, owns This Side Up moving company. “We moved here in 2009 from North Carolina because my mom wanted to live closer to her parents, who have both since passed away,” Aspen said.

Q & A

Q: What are your favorite restaurants?

A: Saigon, Taziki’s and Las Trojas

Q: What are your favorite foods?

A: “Mashed potatoes and Parmesan-crusted chicken that my mom makes.”

Q: What are your favorite sports teams? 

A: “I’m not a huge sports fan, but, since I have a sister at ASU, the Sun Devils have recently become one of my favorite teams,” Aspen said.

Q: What is your favorite sports memory?

A: “In ninth grade, our cross-country girls’ team got fourth place at the state meet. It was a huge accomplishment for us since we were predicted to get seventh, and no North Alabama team was expected to break into the Top 5,” Aspen said.

“My other favorite memory was very recent. I’ve spent the last two years hardly able to run due to stress fractures, and at the end of November I finally came back. A few weeks ago, I had a workout to do alone (800m, 8 x 200m, 800m) at faster than race pace, I actually made my dad come out and watch me,” Aspen said.

“Despite it being cold, windy and running alone, I was able to hit times that are right at or faster than what I’d run with my team the week before,” she said. “It was really confidence building to see myself go from unable to run all the way to doing a hard workout all on my own and still maintain pace.”