Runners to honor Gabriele 'Gabe' Grunewald with memorial run in Minneapolis Tuesday

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - On Tuesday night, runners in Minneapolis will come together for a special group run in honor of former Gophers track star and professional runner Gabriele “Gabe” Grunewald, who died on June 11 at age 32 after a decade-long battle with cancer. 

Runners will go for a 1.405-mile run/walk at 6:15 p.m. at BF Nelson Park to celebrate Gabe’s birthday.  At the run, Gov. Tim Walz will officially designate Tuesday, June 25 as "Gabriele Grunewald Day” in Minnesota. 

Grunewald’s husband, Justin, is expected to give some remarks at the run, along with Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a former professional runner himself. 

Gabe had continued to train and compete through chemotherapy, inspiring thousands of runners to adopt the motto, “brave like Gabe.”  She created the Brave Like Gabe Foundation to help other people fighting rare cancers. 

In an Instagram post, Justin said they hope to have people all over the world running with them on Tuesday. Runners outside of Minneapolis can participate virtually by logging their miles on the running app Strava and tagging #bravelikegabe or #runningonhope on social media. 

Moving forward, Justin said Gabe wants people to move as frequently as they feel able, whether it is walking, jogging, running, biking, swimming or some other form of exercise.