INTERVIEW
CYCLE NEWS RIDER OF THE YEAR KAILUB RUSSELL
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On the afternoon of October 4, 2015,
Kailub Russell sat in a hospital chair
and tried to ignore any discomfort he
was having in his right knee. Cradled in
his arms was a swaddled newborn—two
days old—that sported a full shock of
thick, dark brown hair. Russell has never
had much to say and now, sitting in the
maternity ward of the Novant Health For-
syth Medical Center, he was completely
speechless. His audience was seven and
a half pounds, 20-inches long and, aside
from the odd gurgles and squawks, also
says nothing. So they stare at each other.
When Russell won the Kenda AMA Na-
tional Enduro title 10 days earlier he joked
that he had wrapped up three champion-
ships in 2015—GNCC, Enduro, Full Gas
Sprint Enduro—but he still had one more to
go. His son, Krue Kees Russell, was the
final major achievement in a historic year
for the Russell family.
Russell has
made winning
a habit in
GNCC, but a
knee injury
nearly cost
him the title.
