On Saturday, the town of Perham hosted a new invitational that honors the name of its most well known running alumnus, Gabriele Grunewald, and of which now donates to the rare cancer research foundation that also bears her name.
The beloved pro runner that achieved much on the track over her career passed last spring after a ten-year battle with adenoid cystic carcinoma.
Read: MileSplit USA piece remembering the life of Gabe Grunewald
A graduate of Perham High School, Grunewald won the 800m class A state in 2004, her senior season. It was the first state title for Coach Jeff Morris who has now achieved much success with the cross country and distance programs at the school. Gabe would go on to earn a runner up finish in the 1500m at Outdoor NCAA's with the University of Minnesota before winning a 3000m USA indoor national title as a professional in 2014 when she went on to finish ninth at the world championships.
Last spring an idea to rename a well-known recreational path in Grunewald's hometown in northwest Minnesota was berthed. Late this summer it was finalized that a 2.75 mile path, well-known by the local high school runners, would become the "Brave Like Gabe" Recreational Trail.
Coach Morris thought the city would dedicate the path next spring but, when the name change was finalized earlier, Perham quickly moved to make the "Brave Like Gabe" Early Bird Invite a reality. With the meet not being announced until August, it would be a challenge to find quality teams looking for a race.
When a nearby, long standing meet was forced to cancel due to a venue conflict, Perham found a group of teams looking for a race and completed a twelve team field for the inaugural event. Following the race, visiting teams and the surrounding community gathered to dedicate the trail and celebrated with a cool down lap on the path.
Participating schools were encouraged to donate to the Brave Like Gabe Foundation. Donations and meet shirt sales raised over $4000 on the day. Find out more about the foundation and donate (link).