Gunther Albrecht, better known as Gunnar,  is a senior at Perry. Since his freshman year, Albrecht has been running on the cross country team and the track team. Throughout his high school career Albrecht  has made outstanding progress in running, but that all came through hard work.

In the past three years, Albrecht has improved his 1,600-meter run by 30 seconds and shaved 14 seconds off his three mile run. He works hard for his progression and that improvement can’t get better overnight.

“My time has improved quite a bit; it hasn’t been easy, but the longer you’ve been in a sport the better you’ll be,” the runner explains.

 Albrecht has participated in three half marathons and the Ragnar Trail Relay, which is a 17 mile race. He ran in 10K and 12K races; he partakes in these events when cross country season is over.

“It’s my passion,” he says.

Cade Burkes, who is a sophomore on the cross country team agrees that Gunther is an exceptional runner.

“Gunther is a consistent runner; he’s a good competitor and a good  racer. He pushes everyone to do the best they can,” Burks says, when asked about Gunnar’s role in running advice and motivation.

Since running plays a big role in Albrecht’s life, he plans to pursue running in college. He plans to attend Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, Colorado. Albrecht met the head coach, Gib Leadbetter, and was accepted to both the school and the team. When Albrecht attends Colorado Mesa he wants to study criminal justice and eventually become a law enforcement officer. Albrecht says he has so much more to offer, during college he plans to train vigorously to achieve his ultimate dream and run in the Olympics.

“I believe college will be the next step into helping my career advance into the Olympics,” he says, “It might seem crazy but with hard work and practice anything is possible.”

 With a bright future in running Albrecht is excited to see what the future holds. With big plans and goals, his opportunities are endless. Albrecht has an undefined love for running. Even if his plans don’t work out the way he wants them to he still wants to run as much as possible, “I will never stop running, it’s my addiction” he says. No one can be certain of their futures, but Albrecht knows exactly what he wants and no one is going to stop him from living out his dreams.