News
51st Steve's Run Starts Downtown July 18
Published on June 19, 2025 - 10 a.m.
The 51st running of the Original Road and Trail Race takes place on Friday, July 18, at 6 p.m. in downtown Dowagiac, in conjunction with the Summer Festival and BBQ Competition.
"We’re excited to return to downtown Dowagiac to help kick off the Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce's Summer Festival and BBQ Competition. Registration will return to the train depot again this year. Our goal is to bring together 350 participants — and, of course, that means many more family and friends will be there cheering them on. We also have a group of cross country alumni who will gather to walk in Steve’s honor, and, thanks to Steve’s sister, Carrie, we’re excited to bring back the Fire Up signs — a wonderful way to celebrate and remember those we’re running and walking for," said Emily Schrock, Manager of Development and Executive Director of the SMC Foundation Board.
“We’re truly grateful for all of our participants and donors who come together to raise funds for both cancer research and the David and Steven Briegel Memorial Scholarship. We’re proud to have Cass Family Clinic as our presenting sponsor this year, alongside valued partners like Cairn Stone Adventure Tours, our bib sponsor, and many other generous supporters who help make this event possible," Schrock said.
“The Cass Family Clinic is proud to be a part of this inspirational event that brings the community together and contributes to the fight against cancer,” Cass Family Clinics CEO Joseph Gavan said.
Known as Steve’s Run since 1992, the event has raised more than $180,000 for cancer research and scholarships.
Steve’s Run left downtown in 2015 for Southwestern Michigan College’s campus, where it began in front of the David C. Briegel Building, named for SMC’s fifth president from 1981-98.
David’s and Camille’s son, Steven Briegel, was born July 21, 1967, and died March 1, 1990, at age 22 after a 5 ½-year battle with cancer. He graduated fifth in Union High School’s Class of 1986 and played basketball, golf and in band for the Chieftains.
He graduated with an associate degree in mathematics with honors from SMC in 1988 and was a junior in the Ferris State University program at SMC at the time of his death.
He was a member of Phi Theta Kappa honor society.
After Steve’s death, SMC’s annual Road and Trail Race became Steve’s Run, dedicated to all who have fought or are still fighting cancer, with proceeds split between Mayo Clinic cancer research and the Briegel scholarship. President Briegel died Jan. 13, 2021.
“I wanted to do something to honor Steve,” founder Ron Gunn said. “We had a run around Edwardsburg’s Eagle Lake in his honor” on July 31, 1991. On Aug. 1, 1992, Steve’s Run embraced Dowagiac.
As SMC dean of sports education, Gunn organized races throughout the 1970s-’80s through Roadrunner Track Club. “The first few years it was called the Road and Trail Race, the Bud Lite Run and the Nike-Fair Store Run,” he said.
A magazine named Steve’s Run one of the 10 best vacation runs in the country for its unique combination of highways, the Elks golf course and the college’s rugged trails with hay bales and log obstacles.
Monday Night Running Club, founded in 1979, activated countless sedentary community members.
SMC has continued to host Steve’s Run with the support of the City of Dowagiac and through generous donations from community partners. After a virtual event in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the race moved back into town in 2021.
Cass Family Clinic, an independent Federally Qualified Health Center serving southwest Michigan, operates in Cassopolis and Niles. A third location, at 57392 M-51 South, Dowagiac, opens late summer, featuring primary medical care and a full-service pharmacy, including a drive-through. The clinic expects to serve an estimated 2,400 patients and employ about 15.
Sign up for Steve’s Run today at runsignup.com/stevesrun.
