Raced from front of school gym, close to playground (4)
I believe the answer is:
sped
'raced' is the definition.
('speed' can be a synonym of 'race')
'front of school gym close to playground' is the wordplay.
'front of' suggests taking the first letters.
'gym' becomes 'pe'.
'close to' says to take the final letters (the close/ending of).
The initial letter of 'school' is 's'.
The last letter of 'playground' is 'd'.
's'+'pe'+'d'='SPED'
'from' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for sped that I've seen before include "got a move on" , "Hastened" , "Raced, hurried" , "was 8 [FLEET]" , "Went quickly" .)