VIDEO: Adam Campbell’s emotional finish at the Hardrock 100
Adam Campbell completes the Hardrock Endurance Run less than one year after breaking his pelvis and spine in a climbing accident
When Adam Campbell applied for the Hardrock Endurance Run lottery, he still had difficulty walking.
On Saturday, the Canmore, Alta. resident finished the 100-mile ultra-marathon in Silverton, Colo. in 33:17:25. “This is one of the greatest accomplishments I’ve ever witnessed,” says well-known Canadian trail runner Gary Robbins. Last August, Campbell was climbing in southeastern British Columbia when he fell tens of metres in the Selkirk Mountains. He suffered a broken pelvis and back.
RELATED: How my morning run commute helped me get through my son’s tragic accident
Hardrock 100 finish
Video of Adam Campbell's emotional finish. #HR100 pic.twitter.com/vcDFPpX0PL
— iRunFar (@iRunFar) July 15, 2017
“Overwhelmed, overjoyed, proud, humbled, emotional, sore, content and exhausted,” he wrote on Instagram. “That was the hardest sporting feat I have ever tackled on a physical and emotional level. I will share more tomorrow after some much needed sleep – for now, thank you all for cheering, for following and for your incredible words of support and encouragement. I got to kiss the rock [to signal the finish of the race] at the Hardrock 100-miler today.”
After a big alpine accident, Adam Campbell couldn't walk unassisted when he enter this year's #HR100 lotto. He finished. #AllTheTears pic.twitter.com/RhA7L3Z3Qw
— iRunFar (@iRunFar) July 16, 2017
Less than a year after a horrible alpine accident, an emotional Adam Campbell finishes Hardrock in 33:18. #HR100 pic.twitter.com/sH0QMVmJUH
— iRunFar (@iRunFar) July 15, 2017
https://www.instagram.com/p/BWl1mTjHdUG/
Nick Elson, who Campbell partially credits for saving his life that day, paced Campbell for parts of the Hardrock 100 on Friday and Saturday. Elson himself is one of Canada’s top trail runners, most recently winning the Knee Knackering North Shore Trail Run in Metro Vancouver.
Post-race speech
Adam Campbell talks about what it meant to prepare for and run Hardrock again after his climbing accident last year. #HR100 pic.twitter.com/z4aopi59fv
— iRunFar (@iRunFar) July 16, 2017
Campbell applied for the race lottery in November 2016. “I wasn’t doing much physically at that point, but being an optimist, I figured it was better to give myself a chance to try and fail than to not try at all,” he told Canadian Running in December. The third-place finisher at the Hardrock 100 in 2014 began a run-walk program in November and has continued to progress in his recovery ever since.
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