Nels Matson laced up his sneakers at 3 a.m. on a September morning near the Pacific Ocean shore of San Francisco. The Iowa State alum was about to take the first step on a 46-day, 17-hour, 26-minute, 12-state journey in an attempt to set a world record for the fastest run across the United States.
The world record was a goal, but there was a more important aim: to honor the wish of a fallen Navy SEAL.
Project Campbell's Call
Matson (’06), an Ames native who now calls Florida home, never met Chris Campbell.
Campbell was a Navy SEAL who was killed, along with 30 American soldiers, in a helicopter crash on a mission in Afghanistan in 2011. Matson worked with Campbell’s sister, Cindy, who first shared her brother’s story with him through the book “Among Heroes,” written by one of Chris’ friends, Brandon Webb.
At the end of the audiobook version, Cindy shared Chris’ mission that he wanted to have 100,000 people come together to donate to the Wounded Warrior Project to help his brothers and sisters who didn’t make it home.
When he learned about the life Campbell had led and his final wish, Matson couldn’t get the story out of his head. That’s the moment the seed was planted: Matson had his mind set on his next big challenge.
“I wanted to find a way to get the word out about Chris,” Matson says.
Project Campbell’s Call was underway.
From the heart
Matson admits long-distance running isn’t something he does for fun.
“I enjoy the process of mapping out how to get something like this done,” he says.
A former wrestler at Iowa State, Matson owes the sport for giving him the drive to compete and set lofty challenges. And those challenges have always been part of his life.
“I was born with three out of four pulmonary veins going the wrong way, and a hole in my heart,” Matson says. “I had heart surgery just before I was 3 years old.”
Forty years later, he is putting that healed heart to good use –– and is on a mission to give back through feats of physical endurance. He’s run from Florida to Washington, D.C. to help fund heart surgeries for children in Cambodia. He’s cycled across the U.S. on two different occasions to raise support for The Children’s Heart Foundation.
“I think during these endurance events, it puts me in the mindset of the heroes who I’m trying to bring more attention to,” Matson says. “I think, in a way, it represents the journey that a lot of these heroes have gone through.”
While Matson was not new to feats of endurance, Project Campbell’s Call — the 3,063-mile transcontinental journey that stood before him last September — turned out to be more grueling than anything he’d experienced.
A journey begun
His sneakers laced, Matson set out from San Francisco, headed for New York City on Sept. 8, 2024.
Running across the country takes years of planning and a dedicated team. More than a dozen friends and family volunteered to assist Matson along the way.
“They put their lives aside and were all in on what we were doing –– both spreading Chris’ legacy and getting me from point A to point B,” Matson says.
They supplied him with food, drinks, and even new running shoes.
“I went through 14 pairs,” he laughs.
Matson averaged about 66 road miles each day — the equivalent of almost two and a half marathons.
“I would run 16 hours per day,” he says. “And then the last week, I put in 18-hour days.”
Physical exhaustion and mental fatigue set in quickly as Matson traversed through the desolate desert of Nevada into the extreme elevation of the Rocky Mountains. He soon learned that breaking the days into hour intervals helped him get through those long stretches.
“Chris was a lot of my focus,” he says. “When I got a little banged up and didn’t feel so good, it was easy to think about Chris. He paid the ultimate sacrifice. What I was doing was chosen. This was nothing compared to the sacrifices of those who served.”
Cyclone connections
From start to finish, Matson had the support of fellow Iowa Staters.
“Reggie Reyes, a former wrestler, joined me for the first 31 miles,” Matson says. “Coming into Ames, there were people I grew up with and haven’t seen for 20 years … showing up on the side of the road. It was really neat.”
As Matson passed small towns throughout the country, he was welcomed with signs of support. Even strangers would run with him for a mile or more.
“It kind of represented that old-fashioned messenger,” he says. “As I saw people in person, they could grasp our mission a little bit better and spread the message.”
A lasting impact
Along the way, veterans who couldn’t join Matson in person ran virtual miles to show support.
Andrew Coughlan, alumni regional director for Wounded Warriors Project’s West region, accompanied Matson at the ceremonial start of his journey.
“Knowing the reasons he was doing this –– his heart behind it, his motivation –– it inspired me,” Coughlan says.
Wounded Warrior Project provides life-saving services and programs to veterans and service members who served in the military on or after Sept. 11, 2001, and incurred a physical or mental injury, illness, or wound during or after service.
“Our programs focus on the pillars of physical health and wellness, mental health, connection, and economic empowerment,” Coughlan says. “What Nels did raises awareness for the needs of warriors and their families. He touched a lot of lives.”
Mission accomplished
On Oct. 24, 2024, Matson reached New York City. His recorded time represented the third-fastest run across the United States –– joining an elite class with fellow Iowa State alum Pete Kostelnick (’09), who set the first-place record in 2016.
While he may not have set the world record, Matson is proud to say that Campell’s wish was fulfilled in 2024 with more than 130,000 donations made in his honor.
“I’m amazed by the selflessness of the people that helped with this,” Matson says. “I think it’s just amazing that a group of us came together and we crossed America on foot.”
Chris Campbell’s impact has been exponential, Matson says. “It’s amazing the impact one person can have, and the ripple effect he continues to have after he’s not here.”
