​The Walled Lake Police Department confirmed that marathon runner Grace Nolan was killed a day before the Detroit Free Press Marathon in a single car crash.The crash occurred just before 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17 on Decker Road between North Pontiac Trail and West Maple Road in Walled Lake, authorities said.The Walled Lake Firefighters Association posted on Facebook that they responded to a report of one vehicle hitting a tree. At the scene, both occupants in the vehicle were unstable and trapped. They were transported to Henry Ford Providence Hospital in Novi.Nolan was the passenger in the vehicle, her dad, Jason Nolan, confirmed via a Facebook post. Her boyfriend, Matt, was driving and sustained serious injuries but is expected to recover.”While we are devastated by this, we do know that we will endure and get on the other side of this eventually,” Jason said in the post. “We are thankful for all of the friends who have already reached out via text, phone calls, emails and private messages to offer their condolences and their love to us and our family. Please also keep Matt and his family in your hearts, as I know they are hurting, as well.”Elite marathon runnerNolan planned to lead the women’s elite field at the Detroit Free Press Marathon in her second time running the race this past weekend. “The Detroit Free Press Marathon family is heartbroken by the passing of Grace Nolan, who was to lead our women’s elite field this past weekend,” the Detroit Free Press Marathon said in a statement posted to Instagram. “Grace was a remarkable young woman.”Nolan was a second-year medical student at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, the post said, where she was working toward her third Oakland degree. Three times, she was named first-team All-Horizon League in cross country. In her final collegiate season, she won the Horizon League 10,000-meter title with a championship record time, and she was named a Horizon League 2025 NCAA Woman of the Year nominee, the post said.Steve Waterfield, athletic director at Oakland University, called Nolan’s death “devastating.””After she won the Horizon League’s 2024-25 Cecil N. Coleman Medal of Honor, I contacted Grace to congratulate her,” Waterfield said. “In true Grace fashion, she wrote back thanking me and letting me know how appreciative she was for her time on the cross-country and track and field teams and for the opportunities she had at Oakland.”Nolan also volunteered as a phlebotomist at free community clinics and helped young girls discover running through the nonprofit Girls on the Run, the Detroit Free Press Marathon post said.”Everyone who knew her saw her kindness, her drive and her joy,” the post said.Staff writer Tony Paul contributedsatwood@detroitnews.comThis article originally appeared on The Detroit News: New details emerge on crash that killed Oakland U runner before marathon