02/26/2026
Sad news in the running world.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1580372593607590&set=a.579977910313735&type=3
Jeff Galloway, a 1972 U.S. Olympian and beloved coach but maybe best known as the man who taught the world that slowing down was the secret to going further, has died at the age of 80. 🕊️
His revolutionary run-walk-run method (affectionately known around the world as “Jeffing”) transformed marathon running from an elite pursuit into something beautifully ordinary, accessible to anyone willing to lace up their shoes.
He survived a devastating heart attack in 2021, where his heart stopped for four and a half minutes before five stents brought him back. Doctors credited his decades of endurance training with helping keep him alive. True to form, he responded not by resting on his laurels, but by relearning to walk and then planned to return to the marathon. Before an injury forced him to scratch from last December’s Honolulu Marathon, Galloway was set to become the first person to complete a marathon in eight consecutive decades. He was planning to return in 2026.
“My mission now, at the age of 80-plus, is to show that people can do things that are normally not done, and can do them safely,” he told The New York Times last month.
Galloway’s Book on Running is considered probably the best-selling running coaching book of all time.
Jeff Galloway opened up running to everyone. He is survived by every single person who ever doubted themselves, took their first step and made it to the other side of a finish line that they initially didn’t think would be possible. ♥️
