Runner was alone in last place of a 10K. Here’s what a Port Royal police officer did
Leigh Campbell of Monck’s Corner was running the Water Festival 10K on April 13, and although the moss-draped route through Port Royal was beautiful, there was a battle playing out in her mind.
She was in last place.
Should she stop after reaching the 5K marker? Should she press on and risk feeling embarrassed about her time? No one would notice if she didn’t finish, right? The field was so small, so people might notice if she came in last.
“There’s a little tinge of pride. It would have been more painful to give up and do half of what I set out to do than to come in last,” she said.
So Campbell texted her husband, who was about a half hour ahead of her in the race, and she kept on moving.
About a mile before the finish line, she passed Port Royal police detective Kim Carter, who was helping with security along the route.
A dashcam video from the police car following the race showed what happened next. Carter, in full uniform, started running with Campbell to encourage her to continue toward the finish line.
“She was the last runner to do the 10K, and she was way behind everyone else,” Carter told The Island Packet. “I thought it was very courageous of her to get out there and continue to run.”
Campbell, who works for a real estate firm, and Carter, a five-year veteran of the police force — both of whom will celebrate their 46th birthday on Tuesday — struck up a conversation.
“Sometimes just to get out of your own head when you are running ... I was so grateful,” Campbell said. “It kind of pulled me out of my own head.”
The pair ran a while and walked a while. They talked about how it doesn’t matter what place you finish, Campbell said.
“You just keep going,” she said.
Not a typical runner
Campbell isn’t new to running.
In 2014, she stepped on the scale at almost 300 pounds and decided “enough is enough,” she said.
Since then, she’s lost weight and has completed several 10Ks and half marathons.
She even met her husband through running. They celebrated their first anniversary with a half marathon in Myrtle Beach in March.
“I don’t look like a typical runner,” Campbell said, but she pushes herself to finish the races she starts.
“It has always been kind of a scary thing, to me, coming in last. But it didn’t kill me,” she said. “... I’m still here.”
Campbell came across the finish line of the Water Festival 10K with a time of 1:35:33.88, in 37th place out of 37 runners.
“I think she did a great job to get out there and finish the race because that’s what she wanted to do,” Carter said. “I’m proud of her for finishing the race.”
“I didn’t run it. I did it,” Campbell said, acknowledging that she runs and walks as needed.
“As long as you cross the finish line ...”
And then she paused.
“No,” she corrected herself.
“As long as you cross the starting line, that’s the main thing.”
This story was originally published May 6, 2019 at 3:10 PM.
