Campbell back on track after virus

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SYCAMORE - Derek Campbell is getting back into running. The recent Sycamore graduate and long-distance running specialist started light running on Monday, which is a far stretch from where he was a little more than a month ago. Campbell was running in the 3,200-meter run at the IHSA State Class AA meet when he felt chest pains and eventually collapsed at the end of the race, where he finished in 10:10.98. Campbell and coaches had no idea why Campbell did either. But after many tests and hospital visits, doctors discovered it was the Epstein-Barr virus, a virus that affects the central nervous system and is essentially another form of mono. “We didn't know what was wrong, we thought something was wrong with my heart, something was wrong with my lungs,” Campbell said initially. “Something obviously went wrong.” Campbell said there's a possibility he could have had it all season, and his body was suppressing it. He went through a variety of tests, including ones for his lungs, a stress test for his heart and blood tests when the doctors found out he had the Epstein-Barr virus. “Every time I'd go into a test, I'm like, ‘Shoot, what is wrong with me?,'” he told himself. “How are we going to fix it? I could be out permanently for all I know.” As much as Campbell was in the dark, so was everyone else around him, including coaches and friends who asked him what happened. But once word was out about the virus, there wasn't that nervous feeling anymore. “It was nice to know what had caused the problem,” said Sycamore cross county coach Mike Lambdin. “It was great relief that it was something that could be treated in six weeks.” But in order for him to get healthier, Campbell would have to give up running for a few weeks. “Thank God it turned out to be a really bad virus,” he said. “It's tough putting a runner down, saying you can't run. I hate not being able to run. I've had my fair share of injuries over the years. Every time, they tell me not to run I'm bored, I'm angry, I'm depressed, I've got nothing to do.” Campbell said every day he didn't run, it felt like he was losing something, including his fitness. And for the Drake-bound collegiate runner, this is only a slight setback. “I've got to be out there training, that's who I am,” he said. In the meantime, Campbell's been trying to keep busy at his job, hanging out with his friends or doing core and strength workouts assigned by Drake head cross country coach Dan Hostager. Campbell said as long as he was not doing cardio work, it would be fine. “That boosted my spirits a little bit,” he said. Campbell is now ready to put this incident behind him and start the next phase of his life. He said he's confident and looking forward to longer races, which are now 8,000 and 10,000-meter runs in cross country and 5,000 and 10,000-meter runs in track. Campbell said he wants to build into it, with around 35 miles a week and build into weeks of 70-80 miles. He will compete in summer races around late July and early August. “Derek is such a hard worker that he'll be back in no time,” Lambdin said.