Community Corner
Family, Friends Celebrate Gabriele Grunewald's Life
Grunewald, a a professional distance runner who competed for the University of Minnesota, died last week after a 10-year battle with cancer.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Hundreds of people gathered Monday to honor the life of Gabriele Grunewald, a professional distance runner who competed for the University of Minnesota. Grunewald, 32, died last week after a 10-year battle with cancer.
Grunewald’s funeral was held at the Basilica of St. Mary. Following the mass, about 150 people gathered to remember her by going for a run just down the hill from her grave site.
“Gabe could get through all of her hard times, because she always had running,” Grunewald’s sister, Abigail Anderson, told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “And it’s something I’ve turned to when I don’t know what else to do. It’s been a comfort for all of us, and a way to channel all these emotions.”
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Born in Perham, Minnesota, Grunewald was diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma — a form of cancer — in 2009. She was on both the Gophers' track and cross-country teams at that time. Even after treatment for her began — which included surgery and radiation therapy — Grunewald continued to compete and inspired many.
HGTV stars Chip and Joanna Gaines were among those who ran, according to the Star-Tribune, as were 2018 Boston Marathon champion Des Linden and 2012 Olympian Alysia Montaño. Joining them were Grunewald’s former Gophers teammates, members of the local running community and relatives and friends.
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At her funeral mass, many wore buttons with the slogan “Brave Like Gabe,” the name of the foundation she established to fund cancer research. Strangers who never met Grunewald paid tribute to her, according to reports.
“It’s not all sad just because of the way she lived and the legacy she left,” runner Jeff Bull told WCCO-TV. “It’s not all sad, there’s a lot of hope.”
Grunewald's husband, Justin, also paid tribute to her on the day of her funeral through a post to his Instagram account.
View this post on Instagram“I used to think that a life with cancer would be a life lived in greyscale. The lows in my everyday existence would be dark and cavernous, the highs would be a little lighter but never as bright as they used to be. Over the years I’ve challenged that notion with unexpected triumphs and lots of joy in between the struggles, but never saw it as clearly as I did today. Today I can tell you that this life with a rare, incurable cancer, on certain, special days, can be a life lived in technicolor. @gigrunewald #bravelikegabe #runningonhope
A post shared by Justin Grunewald (@justingrunewald1) on Jun 16, 2019 at 5:08pm PDT
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