How Galloway made me love running

“Everyone has stress. A good run may not erase it, but it can reduce the effect and allow runners to gain control.”

I learned this truth on the road, long before I knew the name Jeff Galloway. I came to marathon running late, at 47, unsure if my body — or mind — could handle the distance.

I began with a simple pattern: run for two minutes, walk for 30 seconds. That rhythm carried me through my first two World Marathon Majors, Tokyo and Berlin, and turned what could have been a painful initiation into something surprisingly joyful. The intervals gave me room to breathe, to look around, to believe I belonged out there. I fell in love with running without yet knowing that the run‑walk method that made it all possible was Galloway’s creation.

Galloway’s life story is, in many ways, the long version of that same lesson: running can be for everyone, and it can change your life.

Born on 12 July 1945, in Raleigh, North Carolina, he did not begin as a prodigy but as an overweight, struggling eighth‑grader who found his way into cross‑country and, through it, into a new version of himself. Over time he became a state champion in high school, an All‑American in college, and eventually an Olympian in the 10,000 meters at the 1972 Munich Games.

Yet his greatest influence came after the Olympics, when he turned his attention from personal performance to helping others run. Coaching recreational runners, he noticed that short walking breaks during long runs reduced injuries, improved recovery, and often led to faster overall times.

From this observation grew the structured run‑walk‑run method — intervals of running and walking tailored to pace and fitness level. For countless late starters, back‑of‑the‑packers, and cautious beginners, those little walk breaks became a doorway into distances they never imagined attempting.

Galloway shared his approach through running stores, training groups, camps and a shelf of books that became staples for new marathoners. He wasn’t just teaching people how to cover 42.195 kilometers; he was giving them permission to redefine what it means to “be a runner.” Under his influence, walking was no longer a mark of failure but a smart tool, part of the plan. Stories like mine — starting in mid‑life, relying on intervals, discovering unexpected joy — are part of the living legacy of his philosophy.

His impact reached far beyond individual training plans. Galloway helped shape the modern running boom by making the sport more welcoming, especially for those who didn’t see themselves as natural athletes. He advised major race organizations, lent his name and guidance to programs worldwide, and inspired communities where weekend runners could line up with confidence, whatever their pace.

Galloway died at age 80, leaving behind a legacy etched into the training logs and finish‑line photos of hundreds of thousands of runners around the world. His method continues to guide people like the 47-year-old who dared to line up in Tokyo and Berlin, run two minutes, walk thirty seconds, and quietly cross over from “I’m not sure I can” to “I am a runner.”

In every set of intervals that makes the impossible feel attainable, his spirit still runs alongside us.