Is Galen Rupp the best T&F commentator ever?

Sometimes introverts come out of their shell when they're able to speak about something in which they have passion and that might have been the case here.

Obviously Galen has been a student of the sport since High School - only people didn't really appreciate that because he's so quiet and introverted.

Galen Rupp- Meticulous in his preparation just like he was during his career and he actually has an interest in the development of runners in the United States which is also a good thing so he has a philanthropic side to him which people don't really know about.

Like so many, I was impressed by Galen’s commentating. I’ve never been a Rupp fanboy and, if I’m honest, I’ve always kind of despised him for acting wimpy and dorky. And Wejo said it already, but I’d add that Rupp’s entire body of work as an interviewee straight up sucks. There are hundreds of archived threads slamming Galen’s impish personality, and I definitely started or contributed to many of them. I was so surprised and, I really did feel a bit ashamed at myself for always viewing him as such a tool. So I said a prayer asking Galen to forgive me. And then I rewatched Solinsky’s beast mode AR 10K and mocked and taunted puny Galen as CSol destroyed him.

…a number of things said above are simply not true.

I, too, thought Galen Rupp was pretty good. That broadcast was nearly seven hours long (started ~noon EST) with boatloads of time between actual racing, I had it on much of the afternoon, and it was only late in the afternoon that I felt like I was hearing some of the same things said over again. And, his voice and style are such that I didn't mind hearing it in the background. There are other broadcasters I would not want to hear for an entire afternoon.

I love when Galen provides commentary. He actually knows what he is talking about, and my favorite thing is he never makes it about himself. Most athlete commentators circle everything back to their own career, but Rupp comes across as very humble and nonchalant. I hope Rupp transitions into a coach-type role, and 30yeara in the future there is some hot shot rookie poking around his garage when he comes upon Rupps silver and bronze, “Cars” style

NXN 2024

1 Hedengren 2 Garces 3 Leachman 5 Ritzenhein 10 Scheffler

milesplit.com

Jane Hedengren Sets Course Record, Mountain Vista Wins NXN

Robert Kellert

Nike Cross Nationals took on Glendover Golf Course in Portland, Oregon, where Jane Hedengren won the individual title and Mountain Vista the team championship.

Open link

Sorta moot since NBC Sports Hollywood will be using AI announcers, stats, results from 2026 onwards. Eventually the indie pickups will use AI too.

I can't believe I'm your first upvote on this.

"Jones looking for trouble and the trouble is there":

But I agree with others. Galen was surprisingly good. I recognized his voice in the commentary yesterday, but thought that it couldn't possibly be the same guy who gave those awkward post-race interviews in past years.

Totally agree with Larry David. Everyone else I have ever heard broadcast a race sounds like an idiot compared to Rupp. He says meaningful comments at key moments, unlike others who just blabber on.

Thanks for posting the video! Isn't Steve Jones the sayer of "All I want to do is drink beer and train like an animal"?

We don't forgive Al Sal and his cronies. We're not Hollywood who celebrates dopers like A-Rod.

Honestly I was very impressed by Runnerspace coverage - plus the free live stream and posting the full races the next day.

good but no!!

I agree. Rupp was calm, knowledgeable and did well.

The other two were so loud and annoying that they shouldn't have been there.

I was never a Galen fan in the least but I really enjoyed his commentary.

I think it's because we're finally hearing Galen the person. Galen was so locked away during his pro career, and it made him appear aloof. It was nice to hear from him and hear his insights, as well as the respect he clearly had for everyone on the field.

It's really wild to think about Weldon Johnson saying something like this in June of 2015.

It's not like all that stuff that happened has just ceased to exist and it's appropriate for Rupp to be commentating on the sport regardless of how knowledgable he is.

It seems Nike will always choose reputation (and $ potential) over integrity. I'd like to think Runnerspace would be different though.

Wish I ccould upvote this one multiple times!

Rupp was pretty good, but Tim Hutchings, Rob Walker, and Hannah England are still at another level. You have to distinguish between play-by-play and color commentator, of course. Nobody sets the scene and the drama like Rob Walker; for Paris and Tokyo there were days he was on vs. the usual NBC crew and I would definitely take him over the NBC team.

Both can be true. 😀