Although less well reported, Campau also played the game with exceptional speed. While records were not kept for stolen bases during some of his minor league seasons, Campau is known to have stolen at least 660 bases during his career, including 100 stolen bases in 1887. According to at least one account, Campau and two other players held the world record for the fastest time, 14 seconds, in rounding the bases on a baseball diamond. In 1891, Campau began competing for money in foot races against other players and never lost a race. In a race against Tom Messitt, Campau won with a time of 11 seconds.