A winning journey: Camille Herron races Sunday to continue a rare quest

The journey of Camille Herron does not begin or end in Wichita.

Sunday’s Prairie Fire Marathon is just the latest stop in Herron’s pursuit for history, as the 32-year-old Oklahoma native is seeking to become the first female runner to win a marathon in all 50 states. She’s won in 11 in three years already.

When Herron decided to accomplish this goal just before her 29th birthday, she thought she was attempting to set a record.

What she found out was this journey would change her life.

“I found out that it wasn’t just about performing and running fast times and winning,” Herron said. “It’s about cherishing the memories you make, the places you go, and the people that you meet. I just want to do something that no one else has done and make my mark on the world.”

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When Herron was growing up in Guthrie, Okla., she told her father that she was going to be the best distance runner in Oklahoma’s history.

In April of 2012, Herron won the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon in a time of 2 hours, 45 minutes, 13 seconds – breaking the state record by more than nine minutes.

“I’ll put it this way, she comes from a very competitive family,” said Jack Herron, her father who played basketball for Oklahoma State. “I think that natural competitiveness is something you’re born with… and she was born with it.”

It was in her humble beginnings living in small towns across Oklahoma where her 50-in-50 adventure originated, even if she didn’t know it yet.

The drive was instilled by her father, but it was Camille who developed almost a dependence on winning. She compares winning a race to “winning the lottery” and admits she has long been addicted.

All along Herron’s career, from when she won three state championships at Westmoore High in Oklahoma City, to when she ran for the University of Tulsa collegiately, she was obsessed with winning rather than times.

“Everybody remembers who won,” Herron explained. “People usually don’t remember who got second. It’s almost like a high that I want to experience every time I race. I feel like I can almost will myself to come across the finish line first because I want that feeling.”

It didn’t take long for Jack Herron to figure out Camille was unique.

He could not have predicted she would go on to become a three-time U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier, or compete in the Pan American Games, or hold a Guinness world record.

But Jack recalled the moment he knew something special was on the horizon. It was after Camille’s first race at the state meet as a freshman, when she ran a leg on the 3200-meter relay team that broke the state record.

“I thought, ‘OK, we’re going to find out just how tough she is in that first race,’” Jack said. “After that, I knew she was pretty tough.”

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In 2013, the Oklahoma City University men’s cross country team won the NAIA championship under the direction of coach Conor Holt, who earned the NAIA Coach of the Year honors.

It was a remarkable feat, as Holt had turned around a program without an infusion of out-of-state talent. He was taking runners born and raised in Oklahoma, like coaches had done before him, yet he was turning them into champions.

“If you come to me and you follow your training and you buy into what I’m saying, I wouldn’t say I’m a miracle-worker ... but I’m close,” Holt said.

This is where Herron’s journey began to ramp up. She had always had the necessary determination to accomplish the feat, but it wasn’t until Herron met Holt, who was a six-time All-American at Oklahoma during the same time she was in college, that her running career was revived.

Injuries had derailed Herron’s career in college, as multiple stress fractures robbed her of four years of running at the University of Tulsa. But when she met Holt, Herron was still training and estimated she was still running 70 miles a week.

That was an astronomical number to Holt, who was able to provide Herron with the specialized training that jump-started her career. The two would hit it off and are now married.

“I think when you’re dealing with an athlete as talented and motivated as Camille, part of the job is just holding back the reigns,” Holt said. “Early on when I started coaching Camille, the biggest thing was getting her to realize that you don’t have to achieve everything in 24 hours. It’s a process.”

After dealing with years of injuries, possibly due to too much high-intensity running, Herron began achieving more by running slower and longer. She won her first marathon in 2010 and ran her best time of 2:37:14 at the 2012 Olympic Trials.

Herron, who is currently dealing with a hamstring injury, says now that she knows her body better than ever, and that’s a credit to Holt’s work with her.

On Sunday, she will be pushing to break the 34-year-old marathon record in Kansas, set by Wichita’s Kathy Whitcomb in 1982 with her time of 2:48:37.

“I can just tell when my body is flowing now,” Herron said. “You just hit a point where everything gets easier and your breathing starts to ease up and you just begin to flow. I’m feeling great and hopefully I can make it happen in Kansas on Sunday.”

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Before Herron would set out to accomplish a record, she set up her own blog where she wrote about her personal experiences from running races to overcoming injuries.

Since she has attained success, the website took off and now Herron has a legion of followers who have found inspiration in her tales.

“Maybe someday I’ll write a book about all of this,” Herron said. “I’ve been all over the country and I’ve had people come up to me who can’t believe what I’ve done. I’ve learned that it’s not about just performing as an elite, it’s about the people I meet.”

This journey isn’t about winning anymore. It’s about accomplishing something bigger than herself.

“I feel like I have to do something larger than life,” Herron said. “I want to achieve something more than just running fast times or winning races. I want more than just that.”

Herron is beginning to find that through motivational speaking. In fact, Herron is the guest of honor at the Prairie Fire Marathon’s pasta dinner on Saturday night at the Hyatt Regency.

She wants to touch other runners, help inspire them to go on to make their own mark in the world, even if it doesn’t involve running.

Wichita is not the beginning nor the end for Herron’s journey.

But it will be a memory.

“When I’m 95 years old someday, I’m going to be looking back and laughing at all of the crazy things I did,” Herron said. “I won’t forget those memories and those emotions and how they made you feel, and how the people made you feel. That’s the most important part of all of this.”

This story was originally published October 8, 2014 at 9:05 PM with the headline "A winning journey: Camille Herron races Sunday to continue a rare quest."