Gabi Rooker
Let’s come right out with it: Gabriella Rooker’s marathon progression should shock even the hobbyist of joggers. Since her debut at Grandma’s in 2021 to her most recent race at the California International Marathon (CIM), in Sacramento, Rooker has qualified for the Olympic Trials (twice) and improved upon her personal best by nearly 26 minutes: 2:54:57; 2:34:57; 2:29:44.
110 Years Ago, an Immigrant from Minnesota Came from Behind to Win the Boston Marathon
He’s not in the Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame. His name is absent from the Minnesota Sports Almanacs. He’s not in the retellings of the state’s sports history from Sid Hartman or Halsey Hall. You won’t find him in the genesis stories of Minnesota road races (which often start with Ron Daws’ River Roads Marathon in 1963).
His name isn’t even in the USATF Minnesota Hall of Fame.
I Can See the Mailbox From Here
Before I landed on Reservation River Road, in Grand Portage, I lived on an old farm outside of Two Harbors, Minnesota, on another dead end road, and my oversized red mailbox was a quarter mile down the narrow dirt driveway, on the main road.
On my long runs I had two choices of routes; at the mailbox I could turn right, or I could turn left. Either way gave me many miles of dirt surface, forgiving on the old legs.