Survivor in the saddle: Lincoln man's perseverance leads him to Tevis Cup endurance ride

Ken Campbell has overcome adversity for most of his life. Just three months before receiving his doctorate degree in 1983, Campbell was involved in a tragic accident when a tanker truck carrying 8,000 gallons of gasoline erupted into flames after being rear-ended by a flatbed truck hauling steel. The impact triggered an explosion, sending flames 200 feet into the air and engulfing a nearby car, occupied by Campbell and two others. One occupant succumbed to her injuries weeks later, and her brother committed suicide months later due to the pain and suffering from the injuries. Campbell had burns on 70 percent of his body and was not expected to survive. Miraculously, he found a way and has made the most of his second chance at life. He was a marathon runner before the accident, and he used the sport to help him return to his former self. Campbell first ran the prestigious Western States Endurance Run in 1989, but as he grew older and started a family, he wasn't able to run the race again. Instead, he resorted to running marathons again but he always longed to return to the iconic trail in the Sierra. "I wish I would have done Western States again, because it was so awesome," said Campbell. "I'm actually a runner but when I got married and had kids, my running was not there the way it used to be." Campbell suffered a hip injury in the Chicago Marathon in 2016 that required a replacement, ending his running career. He thought his days on the Western States Trail were over, but his daughter Alicia introduced him to another way to get out there. "She knew that I was really bummed out because I love those trails so much," said Campbell. "My daughter has always been into horses and I knew about the Tevis Cup, but that was it. She told me, 'We're gonna get you back on that trail, except you're gonna have a horse and we're gonna ride those trails.' That's what she did. We got on a horse." Campbell made his first attempt at the 100-mile endurance ride in 2018 alongside his daughter but was pulled around the halfway mark. He attempted the ride again in 2019 after a year of regrouping and evaluating his performance. "I thought that I've got to figure out why this didn't work. I was destroyed because I was taking care of my horse but I wasn't taking care of myself," Campbell said of his 2018 ride. "The heat got to me. I was dehydrated, but my horse was in great shape." Campbell finished the ride in 2019 alongside Alicia, crossing into McCann Stadium in 21 hours, 33 minutes. Since then, he has completed the ride four more times and this Saturday, he's chasing another finish as he prepares to ride in the 69th Tevis Cup. Alicia will serve as a crewmember for him. Campbell is confident in his experience on the trails but knows it's a long journey from Robie Park near Tahoe to Auburn, and there is a lot that can happen in a day. "It's still a daunting experience. My daughter and I talk about this all the time," says Campbell. "We could do 50-mile rides, which are no big deal. There are 100-mile rides in the desert, but it's flat. This is incredibly difficult. It's in the mountains. You just pray that your horse is trained well, you've done well and everything goes well." Campbell will ride a horse that is Tevis Cup royalty, a mustang named MM Cody. In 2018, he became the first mustang in Tevis Cup history to win the prestigious Haggin Cup, awarded to the horse in the best condition at the end of the ride. Cody has the most Tevis finishes in this year's field with eight, and a ninth finish would tie him for fifth all-time. "Cody's my best buddy. In fact, sometimes I think that us riders know our horses better than we know our wives because we spend so much time on the trail training," said Campbell, who rides his companion three times each week. "Cody knows what I'm thinking, and I know what Cody's thinking. We've spent thousands of miles training together." There is some pressure that comes with riding a famous horse. Campbell says people are eager for Cody to put together another strong performance and they want to see him get his ninth finish. Campbell doesn't want to let anyone down, but notes he definitely has butterflies heading into the ride. "I always think about the race a lot going into it. I'm always uptight and sometimes it takes getting on your horse and taking off to relax and realize that I'm good," said Campbell. "I know how fast I want to ride. I know what I want to do." Campbell says he's prepared for anything and everything that can happen, and he's eager to be back on the trails in the foothills. Said Campbell, "You just have to expect the unexpected."