MN RACE SPOTLIGHT - Brave Like Gabe 5K

Minnesota Race Spotlight

BY SHEILA MULROONEY ELDRED

Editor’s note: The demise of some of our favorite hometown races combined with the proliferation of national corporate races inspired us to highlight some of the best, most local races in the state. Have a race you would like to nominate? Email mdrasarah@gmail.com.

Gabriele Grunewald, the local elite runner who captured hearts and attention worldwide for competing through a rare metastatic cancer, must have had some prescience about what racing would be like during a pandemic.

Two years ago, a year before her death last June, she organized a virtual component to her first Brave Like Gabe 5K. Her foundation had such a large following around the world that many people wanted to participate without making a trip to Minnesota. So about 500 people raced in person in the Twin Cities, and about 800 raced virtually. Last year, the foundation had to close registration because they ran out of bibs after the first 1,500 registrants.

So pivoting to an all online event once the pandemic hit wasn’t too tricky, says Justin Grunewald, Gabriele’s husband and race director. The changes in plan have resulted in a two race format: Participants can race at both the beginning and end of summer.

“So you can set a goal for June and then break it in September,” Grunewald says, giving novices a perfect shot at a personal record. “I don’t see races happening in person anytime soon, but you can still race yourself. And I think there’s beauty in that.”

PANDEMIC VERSION:

The race directors added a few other enticements for the 2020 races: a Strava challenge and leaderboard, fun prizes for running a course with the most elevation gain, or posting the most improvement between June and September. They will host a live online happy hour Gabriele Grunewald’s legacy lives on with the Brave Like Gabe 5K.

on July 1 to celebrate the June races. And runners are encouraged to race on June 25, Gabe’s birthday.

THE PARTICIPANTS: Runners typically race in Minnesota, London, Australia, Canada, Germany. And they include elites, such as Carrie Tollefson, Lauren Fleshman and Kara Goucher.

COURSE RECORDS: It’ll be challenging to break this one: Justin Grunewald raced the course in 15:41.

BEYOND THE RACE: Without the costs associated with an in person race, which can tally $15,000, a much bigger percentage of registration fees will go to support the Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma Research Foundation (ACCRF), Grunewald says.

SWAG: In addition to tshirts and race numbers, various donations will go toward prizes. Brooks donated shoes. COROS donated watches; Goodr, glasses. Local sponsors include running stores such as TCRC and Run N Fun.

SIGN UP: $40, https://raceroster.com/ events/2020/29419/brave-like-gabe-5k-september-6-2020-st-paul-mn

NEXT YEAR:

While the race will continue to offer a virtual option, Grunewald hopes that an in person race will eventually realize some of the plans they had in place for 2020 before the coronavirus, including a collaboration with local brewery Barrel Theory Beer Company.