Campbell, a Dunedin physiotherapist, won the women’s title in the Dunedin Marathon despite being wary of a lack of conditioning due to minimal racing over the Covid years.
"I wasn’t going out for anything special today," she said.
"It’s been a long two years with this race being cancelled. So I just wanted to finish it."
A recent heavy cold had spoiled a midwinter trip to the Sunshine Coast, she said.
"I was worried it was Covid and kept doing the Rat tests.
"Thankfully, they all came back negative. It was just a really horrendous cold."
Bouncing back to full health, Campbell found she was able to ease her way into yesterday’s race when helping form one of the front groups early to settle her pace.
She maintained contact with this group until the 32km mark, when it started to break up and string out.
She held her pace and felt strong over the closing stages to cross the finish in 2hr 56min 8sec.
She enjoyed the assistance of a tailwind but chopped down a gear or two turning to face it.
"I just leaned into it and concentrated on turning things over."
Campbell said she had to run her "hometown race" as she was proud to call Dunedin home.
"It’s great to experience this course that so many people have spoken so highly of and I see why it’s got the reputation it does. It’s a phenomenal course.
"It’s a beautiful day. The supporters were awesome. The aid stations were great and very well staffed and organised.
"It’s a wonderful race. Everyone should come to it."
Her running had for the most been restricted to training with husband Richard in his preparation for Ironman New Zealand next year, she said.
Her last competitive full-distance race was finishing runner-up to Hannah Oldroyd in the 2020 Queenstown Marathon.
This year, she won the Otago cross-country open women’s title and had a brief flirtation with a sprint course triathlon.
"For the record, I’m a runner who has done a triathlon," she joked.
Her husband finished 10th in the half-marathon yesterday in 1hr 22min 31sec.
Second in the open women’s section of the marathon was Lisa Brignull in 3hr 7min 47sec, and Kristy Eyles was third in 3hr 10min 50sec.
Local runners also dominated the top end of the field in the women’s section of the half-marathon.
University of Otago student Liliana Braun won in 1hr 25min 46sec with Harriet Kingston second in 1hr 28min 41sec and Laura Bungard third in 1hr 33min 59sec.
Similarly, local runners dominated the open women’s 10km race with Sophie Hicks winning the title in 36min 59sec, Sarah McClure second in 39min 54sec and Sophie Shallard third in 41min 55sec.
