There was a fence post at Manhattan’s Northeast Park, less than the length of a football field away. For most people, reaching it would hardly qualify as a challenge. But for Cameron Crocker, that fence post seemed a world away.
It was the summer of 2024. Cameron was walking with his wife, Holly, and their children when he decided to try something he hadn't done in years.
Weighing 330 pounds at the time, he wanted to run.
"Holly, honey, do you think I could run to that fence post?"
She encouraged him, assuring him he could make it. Cameron took off running, but halfway there, his chest was pounding, his breathing became labored, and he stopped.
He felt defeated.
As he turned around and began walking back, his young daughter, Emery, was watching from her stroller. Rather than seeing her father fail, she began clapping.
"Run, Daddy, run!"
Cameron stopped. Something about those three words changed everything.
"She didn't know I failed," he recalls. "She has no idea I failed."
So he turned around and ran again. He reached the fence post, walked back, and tried again. Each time, his daughter continued cheering.
"All she sees is me trying," Cameron says. "She just wants to see me run, and I want her to see me run, so I'm gonna keep running." And that's exactly what he did.
But getting here required far more than putting on running shoes.
A Colby, Kansas, native, Cameron came to Manhattan to attend Kansas State University. What began as a summer painting internship eventually became a business opportunity. In 2015, he joined forces with his brother Cody to establish C&C Painting, which grew into C&C Painting & Remodeling.
Cameron became the company's visionary, while Cody handled the details of executing that vision. Together with their brother Chris, they built a successful family business.
But behind that success, Cameron was struggling.
He had battled his weight since childhood, even wrestling at 285 pounds in high school. After getting into shape as a young adult, the pressures of entrepreneurship, marriage, employees, and financial responsibilities slowly brought back unhealthy habits.
Food became an escape from stress.
Between appointments, Cameron routinely stopped at fast-food restaurants, sometimes eating three or four cheeseburgers throughout the afternoon. He would occasionally hide those meals from Holly, then eat dinner at home anyway.
Whether celebrating a successful day or coping with a difficult one, food and beer became familiar comforts.
His weight climbed from roughly 200 pounds to more than 411.
Eventually, Cameron began falling asleep at his desk, even after consuming energy drinks. He experienced severe anxiety, depression, and exhaustion. Holly encouraged him to see a doctor.
During that appointment, Cameron stepped onto a medical scale.
It displayed three letters.
“ERR.”
The scale couldn't register his weight.
He eventually lost enough weight to register 411 pounds, although he believes his actual heaviest weight was closer to 420 or 425.
Medical testing revealed hormonal issues, and he was diagnosed with sleep apnea. With medical guidance, Cameron began addressing his health, changing his eating habits, and walking regularly.
Progress came slowly, and it wasn't always permanent.
When his son, Quinton, was born prematurely in December 2023, serious respiratory complications required hospitalization in Topeka. The family endured weeks of uncertainty, followed by another hospitalization after Quinton developed RSV.
Under the tremendous stress, Cameron returned to old habits and regained much of the weight he had lost. He realized that simply eating less wasn't enough. He needed to understand nutrition and create habits that could withstand life's challenges.
He began tracking calories, studying his food intake, and gradually rebuilding his health.
Then came that afternoon at Northeast Park.
After Emery's encouragement, Cameron began running short distances regularly. Sometimes he could only manage a tenth of a mile before stopping. But he kept showing up.
Eventually, he turned his attention to a steep hill near his home. For months, he struggled to climb it. Then one day, he ran all the way to the top. Overwhelmed, he called Holly.
"I found God today," he told her.
Cameron describes the experience as his first true runner's high, an emotional breakthrough that left him crying with happiness.
The following day, he ran his first full mile.
Suddenly, a 5K didn't sound impossible.
He registered for Manhattan's 2024 Turkey Trot, despite never having run more than a mile continuously.
His goal was to finish in approximately 31 minutes.
As he approached the finish line, he spotted Holly and the children cheering. Looking at his watch, Cameron realized he might break 30 minutes.
He gave everything he had.
His finishing time was approximately 29 minutes, 54 seconds.
Afterward, exhausted and struggling to catch his breath, Cameron climbed into the family vehicle and announced his next goal.
"I'm signing up for a marathon."
In April 2025, he completed the Abilene Marathon in approximately six hours. It wasn't pretty, and he readily admits he underestimated the challenge. But he finished.
Then came ultrarunning.
Introduced to the sport by Derek Taussig, Cameron tackled increasingly ambitious distances. On his birthday in August 2025, he ran about a 50k - approximately 33 miles - back and forth along the Tuttle Creek dam, with his brother driving alongside and playing music.
He subsequently completed a 50-mile race near Ottawa, Kansas, along with numerous half-marathons and trail events.
He's also served as a pacer at major mountain ultramarathons, including Leadville, Wasatch, and High Lonesome.
On October 31, Cameron plans to attempt his first 100-mile race.
Today, Cameron is nearly 170 pounds lighter, and has logged more than 3,500 miles running over approximately two years. His ultimate weight-loss goal is 211 pounds, representing a full 200-pound transformation. When he reaches it, he intends to register for a 200-mile ultramarathon.
Yet Cameron insists his greatest accomplishments aren't measured in miles or pounds.
Running has given him confidence, friendships, renewed faith, and freedom from much of the anxiety and depression that once consumed his life.
Holly remains his biggest supporter, encouraging his ambitions while helping balance the demands of family life.
And perhaps the greatest reward came in January when Cameron rounded a corner and discovered Emery wearing his running vest, pretending to be a runner herself.
"Look, Daddy, I'm just like you," she announced.
For Cameron, that moment said everything. Not the father hiding fast-food wrappers. Not the man whose weight exceeded a medical scale's limits. But a father who keeps trying, no matter how difficult the challenge.
Cameron often reflects on three things that changed his life: a fence post, his daughter's encouragement, and the Turkey Trot that taught him to believe in himself.
And whenever the next challenge seems impossible, he remembers where it all began.
Sometimes, all you have to do is make it to the next fence post.
“She just wants to see me run, and I want her to see me run, so I’m gonna keep running.”
“For Cameron, the greatest victory wasn’t losing nearly 170 pounds or running 50 miles. It was discovering that his daughter never saw him fail. She saw her father trying, and that single moment changed everything.”