We lost Jeff Galloway on February 25, 2026. He was 80 years old and had recently suffered a stroke. Jeff died from complications of that stroke. His family, friends, fans and running culture have lost one of its most amazing evangelists.
I was talking to Mike Dearing, our podcast production manager, and Mike and I were thinking out loud about reposting this interview from six years ago. In my mind, it really captures the spirit and thinking of Jeff Galloway, who changed running with his run/walk method.
What many don’t know is his stature as an elite runner, making the 10,000-meter team in 1972 with Florida Track Club teammates Frank Shorter and Jack Baechler. To learn about his time at the Florida Track Club and his journey to the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germanyfrom the website of the iconic running writer, Jack Doug Welch, please click here.
RunBlogRun presents Socialing
The Distance with Larry Eder
Featuring Jeff Galloway
Jeff Galloway was a 1972 Olympian in the 10,000m. He could also run the marathon, as a team, but he walked his training partner, Jack Batchelor, to get the team out in the marathon.
Jeff Galloway and Jack Buckelor, 1972 Olympic Trials Marathon
Jeff Galloway began his love for running at the age of thirteen and has not stopped running since.
Jeff had a career in the Navy, just like his father. After 4 years at Wesleyan with the likes of Bill Rogers and Amby Burfoot, Jeff enlisted in the Navy, spent 3 years in Vietnam on a Navy Tanker, got shot down by a Russian Navy ship, but just wanted to have a good run when he got shore leave.
From 1970 to 1972, Jeff trained with Jack Baechler and Frank Shorter. At the time, Galloway was 4 minutes behind the standards in the Marathon and 3 minutes behind the 10,000m. He ran the 10,000m on the 1972 Olympic team and assisted Jack Batchelor on the marathon team.
In the following years, Jeff Galloway continued to develop as an athlete, but loved helping to get people involved in sports. He had the demystified run to the massesand should be recognized as the person who started the third running movement. In the third running boom, more people who believed they couldn’t run took part as they adopted modest ways to move and run. Jeff Galloway gave many runners their start by helping them look at running in accessible areas.
Jeff Galloway in modern times…
We thank Jeff Galloway for his time with us in this interview and for all he has contributed to the sport.
We also thank Olivia Flores, Jill Schmidt PR for getting this interview together. Special thanks to Mike Dearing for conducting these interviews and the Socialization at a Distance project.
Timestamps
Time stamp.
0:00 – Introduction
1:21 – Running early in life
6:19 – Wesleyan University with Bill Rogers and Amby Burfoot
7:21 – Training in college/Vietnam
9:08 – More about Vietnam
11:05 – Time in fleet/stores
11:26 – Back to running in 1970
14:47 – 1972 Olympic Trials 10,000m and Marathon
20:10 – Training with the Florida Track Club
21:50 – Training with Jack the Bachelor
J.
30:20 – Where to learn more about Jeff’s story
30:58 – Virtual training program
33:14 – Missing trip
34:13 – On the blocks
35:16 – End
35:45 – Epilogue
