Lucy Campbell’s Sunday Surge – From 9th to Podium at Rogue Invitational
We are used to seeing Lucy Campbell on the podium in 2025, but it didn’t seem likely for her on Friday and Saturday at the 2025 Rogue Invitational in Aberdeen, Scotland.
Campbell, the 2025 TYR Wodapalooza champion and the second Fittest Woman on Earth from last summer’s CrossFit Games, was ninth overall on Sunday morning, 100 points behind third.
- But in classic Campbell style, she kept pushing on Sunday, eventually clawing her way to the podium. Yet again.
She finished third behind the winner, Laura Horvath, and runner-up Alex Gazan.
How Campbell Got It Done
Campbell began the competition with a 15th-place finish in Event 1. Although it was her lowest result of the weekend, the event was a huge success because she was able to complete all 16 log muscle-ups.
- “Learning log bar muscle-ups has been rough,” she posted on Instagram, adding that she had “many fails in the last 48 hours” as she tried to learn them. “But I guess I found a way,” she added.
Campbell rounded out the first day with an 11th- and third-place finish, and when the dust settled, she was in eighth overall, 65 points behind third.
Saturday was similar: Another third-place finish, along with 12th and 14th places, dropped her to ninth in the overall standings with one day remaining.
Sunday, though, was a different story.
The day was made for athletes willing to endure unthinkable pain, undoubtedly music to Campbell’s ears.
First up was “Event 7: Granite City.”
For time:
- 1,300-meter run
- 4/3 rope climb
- 50-foot feed sack lunge (150/100 pounds)
- 1300-meter run
- 4/3 rope climb
- 50-foot feed sack lunge (150/100 pounds)
- 1,300-meter run
- 4/3 rope climb
- 50-foot feed sack lunge (150/100 pounds)
- 1,300-meter run
Known for being a strong runner, there was no doubt Campbell would contend. The question was whether she could win the event against other top runners like Emma Lawson and Emily Rolfe.
- She didn’t quite take the win, but Campbell’s time of 27:33 was good enough for second place behind Lawson. Both women beat Rolfe’s time from Heat 1.
The second-place finish helped Campbell move from ninth to seventh. Still, the podium didn’t seem likely.
But then came Event 8, “Double Bogey.”
10 rounds for time:
- 8 overhead squat (135/95 pounds)
- 6 burpee over the bar
Ultimately, no one was a match for Campbell’s blazing pace. She secured her first event win of the weekend, finishing nine seconds ahead of Lawson.
With one event left, Campbell was suddenly sitting in fourth overall, just 15 points behind Lawson.
The final event, “PEDICAB,” was the definition of a pain cave workout.
For time:
- 100-meter carry (150/100 pounds)
- 50-calorie bike
- 100-meter carry
One of the biggest challenges of the event was that athletes wouldn’t know how fast their competitors were biking, making it a fine line between pushing hard enough and pushing to complete failure.
- “I like the Echo bike, so let’s see how much I can hurt on the sandbag, I guess,” Campbell said in a post-event interview after Event 8.
Again, Campbell managed to hurt just a little more than the other competitors.
She finished the 100-meter carry ahead of all other competitors, neck-and-neck with Alex Gazan.
- Gazan managed to pass Campbell on the bike, but only by a hair, and then it came down to a foot race.
Campbell wasted no time, quickly passing Gazan and cruising to a heat win (third overall behind Grace Walton and Rolfe from the first heat). When the numbers were crunched, Campbell had just enough to secure the final podium spot, finishing five points ahead of Lawson.
The Big Picture
Campbell’s performance this weekend in Scotland reaffirms what we’ve already learned this year: that she is a force to be reckoned with and a podium contender in any competition she enters.
Now, Campbell has proven she can reach the podium in a come-from-behind manner, showing that no matter the circumstances, she knows how to find a way.
Featured image: Sebastian Vallejo
