Catching Up With Jeff Campbell

By Shanelle Naone

We sometimes participate in life’s events without knowing the future implications of it. Such was the case for Jeff Campbell, who at age six won a 10 and under one-mile race that ignited a lifelong passion, commitment, and career in running.

Of course, his father was an accomplished runner in high school and college, so Campbell was prone to inherit the running gene. He competed in his first international race in Ireland at age nine, ran all the way through college and into a 12-year-long pro career that included representing team USA, two Olympic trials, and ultimately competitive trail racing.

Among his accomplishments you’ll find a 2:16 marathon, a 28:31 10,000m, and a 13:59 5K.

Campbell started going off-road as a form of strength training while running for the University of South Alabama, and after his second Olympic trials in 2004 he decided to focus on trails.  Last year, he won his division in all four XTERRA Georgia Trail Run Series races he entered which included three 10k’s and a half-marathon.

Campbell later went on to prove how fast he is by placing sixth overall against a very strong field at the XTERRA Trail Run World Champs.  He described the trail at Kualoa Ranch as, “One of the hardest races I’ve ever run.” While he came to the islands to compete, Campbell also took the time to vacation as the trip was his first to Hawaii.

So what excites him about the sport of trail running?

“Not knowing what’s going to be out there,” he said. Campbell is excited to see where the sport will go and said he’d like to see it get as big as professional running, noting that the sport is definitely getting bigger, and gaining interest.

Campbell is currently the General Manager of Big Peach Running Company located in Atlanta, Georgia, home to the country’s second largest running community. With so much experience on and off the road, Campbell has a wealth of advice to give young runners who want to pursue a career in running.  His general advice is to “develop good habits such as dedication, sleep, eating right, and knowing when not to go out on Friday nights.”

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