UVALDE, Texas – For Kimberly Rubio, running has always been a release.
“I spend most of my days just trying to not think about what happened. But when I’m running, I feel like, ‘OK, this is my time to really just process what happened.’ I think about her, what it must have been like in the school for her,” said Kimberly Rubio, Lexi Rubio‘s mother.
Lexi was one of the 21 victims in the Robb Elementary tragedy on May 24.
Lexi would have turned 11 on Thursday, Oct. 20. She would have painted pumpkins with her siblings and eaten her favorite red velvet cake.
Her family will carry on the tradition at her gravesite. Lexi is forever 10 years old.
“It’ll be a big day. It’s really not fair that she’s not here, but we’re going to do our best,” Kimberly Rubio said.
This year, Kimberly, her husband, Felix, and the other victims’ families are starting a new tradition in her daughter’s honor — Lexi’s Legacy Run.
“Lexi’s very athletic. She’s competitive, not much of a runner, but I am, so we just kind of combined the two,” Lexi’s mother said.
The run is happening virtually, starting Oct. 20 through Nov. 20. People who want to participate can walk or run wherever they are.
The money raised during the 5K goes toward Lives Robbed, a nonprofit started by the families of four Uvalde victims, including the Rubios.
“Trying to better the community, that’s our goal. We hope people understand that and love it and try to help us,” Kimberly Rubio said.
With a laugh, she said Lexi would tell everyone there are no excuses not to participate in the 5K.
Kimberly only asks that you remember Lexi as you do the 5K.
“If you’re picturing her, picture her beautiful smile, how smart she was. She was intelligent. She was driven. I know that she was going to change this world. I still think she can, though I wish she was here to create her own path,” she said.
Click here if you’d like to sign up for Lexi’s Legacy Run.
Kimberly said they hope to have a day for the community to run together for Lexi, which is still in the works.
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