BREAKING NEWS: Olympian & Pioneer of Run/Walk Method Jeff Galloway Has Passed Away at 80

Bummer

Wow, so sorry to hear. Def a pioneer of the first running boom. Really developed his talent w/ the Florida Track Club. Met Jeff way back in ‘80(?) at the New Jersey 10 Miler in Cherry Hill. He was demonstrating this new Nike foam called “Phylon.”

That sucks. RIP. Perhaps on my run in the morning I will use the walk/run method. I always use it at fixed timed Ultras, after the first lap. Thanks Jeff..........

He accomplished many positive things. RIP.

my grandma gave me his run walk book that she used to run a marathon in her 70s

RIP

RIP

there was an article in the last couple months about an attempt to run a marathon in his 80s. so he was staying active until the very end.

I learned thru a couple of 75+ running friends the value of this run/walk technique. Shutting the door on my previous scoffing at “Gallows Walking.” In all fairness, I ran with Jeff the summer of 1975 in Lake Tahoe, and walking was the last thing we would do. Jeff invited my wife and I to a cabin near one of the ski resorts for a run and dinner. Jeff was hosting a high altitude running camp. My impression at that time was that Jeff was a free spirit. He had a Volvo sedan he drove relentlessly cross country from his Southern roots, it had some 300,000 miles on it. That car even had a name, Mobley that somehow fit the sun bleached paint and bald tires. A few weeks after our run and dinner Galloway took off to Steve Prefontaine’s funeral, another 1972 Olympian, and his close friend. Putting some more miles on Mobley to Coos Bay, Oregon. Later that summer I was fortunate to catch Jeff in a low key local race. The following week Jeff returned the favor in spades on the first leg of the Around the Lake Relay. My wife and I moved from Tahoe soon afterward. Jeff and our paths never crossed again, but we remember.

Long before his passing Jeff received accolades for his work in getting the average person off the couch. I am hopeful his program will live on as his legacy.

Rest in peace.

Sorry to hear this

Bought my first copy if his book at the Louisville expo 1986

Very tragic.

Sad to hear ... RIP. Know he had health struggles recently (not due to bad habits of course). Got to work in his original Atlanta store and hang with him some when I was younger 35 yrs ago. Chatted with him a bit just weeks ago.

Thanks Jeff for all you did for so many

Jeff Galloway and Amby Burfoot were teammates on the Wesleyan cross country team when a kid named Bill Rodgers showed up as a freshman to join them. RIP Jeff.

I recall a letsrun April Fool's Day joke from about 20 years ago.

Jeff Galloway has been hit by a scandal after admitting he ran every step of the '72 Olympic 10k.

I knew him a wee bit though it's been ages since we talked. There was no one better to talk running with. He loved the sport and its history and was just as good a guy as you could find, I wonder what finally became of Mobley. RIP, Jeff

I had forgotten about that.

I was just reading the RW tribute to his life. Galloway did a little bit of everything you could in the running world. In addition to popularizing the run/wall methond and making the Olympic team, he also was college teammates with Boston marathon winners Amby Burfoot and Bill Rodgers, started the first specialty running store in the US (Phidippides), helped found the Peachtree road race, authored more than 20 books, and even let his friend Jack Bacheler take third at the US Olympic Trials.

And to think when i was in my 20s, i couldn't fathom why the run/walk method was celebrated. Like it drove me crazy. I think I may have even written a column about it for the RRCA monthly magazine - Footnotes.

RIP.

I was also at that race, although I regrettably never met Jeff. There was a Phidippides (also in Cherry Hill) which wasn’t there long but I loved to shop at. The best way I can describe it is this: if The Athletes Foot and Foot Locker were the “Runners World” of running retail, then Phidippides was the “Track & Field News” in the area, along with Sports East and Uncle Marty’s Sneaker Barn. They were where you could go to talk competitive running & hang out as well as shop. There was a vibe back then that you don’t get in the running specialty stores of today. I guess it was because the clientele was mostly competitive runners, not the so-called hobby joggers which keep the specialty stores in business today. Those early years of the first running boom were the best! RIP Jeff.

RIP Jeff. Fond memories of runs from the Monroe Dr. warehouse and working at Phidippides Ansely Mall. You will me missed