Robin Campbell Bennett
Robin Campbell Bennett didn’t get a traditional start in running. Growing up in a large family with four brothers and sisters, Robin wanted to be able to defend herself against being picked on by her siblings. Robin decided to join a boxing club at her neighborhood recreation center.
“And, when Mabel Adderley hit me in my head, I learned that boxing was not for me. And I asked them, what was next? And they said running. So that seemed like something smart to do,” Robin said. “And that’s how I began running. I figured that I have a brother, in particular, who was six. He would have a hard time chasing me […] And so running became a sport.”
Robin Campbell (#72) competes in the 10-11 XC division. Photo by Jeff Johnson
Then in 1969, Robin attended and participated in the city-wide championships in Washington D.C. It was here that Robin met the Olympic long jumper, Martha Watson. Watson took notice of Robin and her performance in the games, introducing Robin to her coach, Brooks Johnson.
“He gave me his card and said, ‘Hey if you’re really interested in running, here’s my card’,” Robin remembered. “He coached at St. Alban’s School, which was the school that all the [congressmen’s children went to].”
The rest, as they say, is history. Robin enrolled in St. Alban’s School and began running with an international team of athletes. “It exposed me to a whole other world,” Robin said. “By the fall of the same year, I was in California, my first plane ride, running in a cross-country championship with my age group!”.
The training was rigorous. Coach Brooks had athletes on the team run through Washington D.C. as well as do workouts after training runs and even after meets. During this time Robin primarily ran cross-country but also participated in age-group track meets. Despite being young and female, while on the team Robin never felt out of place and, in fact, the dynamics of the team fueled Robin’s competitive spirit.
“Well, I felt as a young kid, you know, nothing’s impossible. So, I felt like I just wanted to beat them all, men women […], It just became more of a challenge. I mean, it just [made] me more competitive,” Robin noted.
In 1969, Robin participated in the Youth Games in Washington D.C., and from there, at the age of thirteen, Robin went on to the 1972 Olympic Trials in Fredrick, Maryland. Unfortunately, due to her age, Robin was unable to participate in the open races but rather ran in the Exhibition 200 and 1500 meter events.
“Unlike most other sports, you have to be fourteen to make the Olympic team,” Robin explained. "I was beating some of the Olympians on my team, but I couldn’t, I could not compete in the open races because I was thirteen."
From there, between 1972 and 1976, Robin competed in events across the United States, winning and medaling at many of them. In 1974, Robin set the American Record in both the 600 meter and 1000 meter events. She also competed at the USA vs China Friendship Competition in Shanghai, China in 1975. Then, in 1976 Robin participated as an Olympic Trials Qualifier in the 400, 800, and 1500 meter events in Eugene, Oregon. She was a semi-finalist in the 400 meter event that year, as well.
In reflecting back over her career, Robin says, “You never know what connections you’re gonna make, […] take advantage of all the opportunities that come your way, take advantage of opportunities and just […] make opportunities happen.”
Robin was supported throughout her career by her family and by her coach, Brooks Johnson and his wife Deann Johns. Robin and her sister moved with Coach Brooks to Florida, where Robin attended high school, and then later to California, where Robin went to college, the first in her family.
As a young athlete, Robin traveled all over the world to compete in world class events alongside other world class athletes like herself. Over the course of her career Robin competed in every Olympic Trials event from 1972 to 1984. Robin was also a sponsored athlete of the Puma Track Club, perhaps paving the way for female athletes of today to garner such paid sponsorships.
Note about the author: Pilar Arthur-Snead is a Road Runners Club of America Level 1 Certified Coach, Ultrarunner and the host of The Last Tenth Podcast. She is based in Albany, NY.
