Gabe Grunewald Fights to the Finish

Published by ESPNW on March 6, 2014

Gabe Grunewald crossed the finish line first in the women's 3,000-meter race at the 2014 USA Indoor Track & Field Championships two weeks ago, and the flashbulbs caught a look of pure elation and relief.

Sporting the neon-yellow Brooks uniform, her name emblazoned across the front of her race bib, she instinctively outstretched her arms, tipped her head back and smiled in a show of unbridled emotion.

"Finally," she thought.

Gabe Grunewald trailed Shannon Rowbury and Jordan Hasay on the final lap before making contact with Hasay on her way to a decisive win.

This was her first national title, but equally important, it meant that she had punched her ticket to race at the World Indoor Championships, which are being held Friday through Sunday in Sopot, Poland. It would be her first chance to represent the United States in a major championship.

A tense race before the gun even fired, the women's 3,000 field had three runners who held the IAAF qualifying time necessary to go to worlds -- Grunewald, Shannon Rowbury and Jordan Hasay. Since only the top two at nationals with the standard earn a spot on the team, they all knew at least one of them wouldn't be going to Poland.

For someone with a reputation for having a menacing kick, it was to Grunewald's advantage that the indoor national meet was held in Albuquerque, N.M., at 5,000 feet above sea level. The altitude often causes races to stay at a moderate pace until the later stages, and that's exactly how this one played out.

When the bell signaling the final lap rang, Rowbury was in the lead, followed by Hasay and Grunewald. That's when Grunewald made her move, hurtling past both women at a breakneck pace. NBC Sports Network commentator Tim Hutchings described Grunewald, with her lethal speed, as being "like an out-of-control toy car." By the time she hit the line, she was nearly 20 meters ahead of Rowbury. Hasay had fallen back to a disappointing fourth place behind Sara Vaughn.

"I had been waiting for that moment for four years," the 27-year-old Grunewald said. "You never know how many races you're going to get. You have to celebrate every [personal record] and every win, because you never know when a PR is going to be a lifetime best. When I crossed that finish line, I thought, 'The chance to win a U.S. title may never happen again, so enjoy it.'"

The makings of a champion

Grunewald knows better than most how precious and fragile the happiest moments can be. Her first cancer diagnosis came in 2009 during her final college track season at the University of Minnesota. A lump in her neck was determined to be adenoid cystic carcinoma in her salivary glands. She got the news from her doctor while at a meet in Tempe, Ariz., and she decided to go through with her scheduled 1,500-meter race anyway. In an act of supreme toughness, she pulled off a personal best, running 4 minutes, 22.87 seconds.