The man who inspired millions of runners to challenge themselves to compete using his run-walk method has died.
Jeff Galloway was 80 years old.
His daughter-in-law said Galloway had a hemorrhagic stroke and died in a Pensacola, Florida, hospital on Feb. 25, The Associated Press reported.
He had undergone emergency neurosurgery and was in an intensive care unit on Feb. 20, his family posted to his official Facebook page.
On late Wednesday night, they shared that he had died, taking a moment not only to share their grief, but also to support anyone who took on the challenge of running, writing, “Sadly, we lost someone truly irreplaceable today. We are heartbroken to share the news of the passing of Jeff — a husband, a father, a grandfather, a coach, a mentor, and a believer in every single one of you.”
“Jeff did not just make runners. He empowered people to believe in themselves,” was written in tribute.
Galloway was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, the son of a naval officer, Runner’s World reported.
He grew up in Atlanta, according to WSB. He first attended Wesleyan University for undergrad and then went to Florida State University in pursuit of a master’s degree after he served in the military. In 1970 became the first winner of Atlanta’s Peachtree Road Race.
“Even though the Peachtree was a minor dot for world road race, in Atlanta it was not. The act of running down the major street was something that was not done in the South. And it was done for the very first time with the Peachtree Road Race and was a big deal for us runners,” he told WSB for the 50th anniversary of the race.
He then went on to compete on the world stage as part of the 1972 U.S. Olympic team.
Galloway wrote about how he got to the Olympics. It all started 14 years before the Games when he was a teenager.
“I was a fat 13 year old entering a new school that required athletics after school. The ‘lazy kid grapevine’ told me that the track coach was the most lenient — you could jog to the edge of the woods, goof off (out of sight from the coach), and jog back at the end of the period. I didn’t like exercise but, as fate would have it, met some kids that were funny. At first I tried to keep up with them to hear the jokes.
“I wasn’t an instant star. It took 4 years of hard running before I finally qualified for the Georgia State High School championships.”
Eventually, after being drafted for Vietnam and serving in the Navy, he said, “I decided that I would try to qualify for the Olympic Trials race. My times were so much slower than needed, and this was unlikely.” But he did make the team and competed in Munich.
When he returned after the games, he opened a running store and promoted his Run-Walk-Run method of racing, called the “Galloway Method.” Runners using his technique take walking breaks between running to prevent fatigue and injuries.
Endurance sports consultant Jim Vance called Galloway a “pioneer” in the sport of running.
“He removed the barrier to entry, which was mostly mental,” Vance told the AP. “Running isn’t supposed to be a suffer-fest. It should be something peaceful, something enjoyable, so people can enjoy running and not dread it.”
He published several books, shared his training plans online and hosted retreats. Galloway was also the official training consultant for RunDisney, a series of races put on several times a year at Walt Disney resorts, mostly in Florida, the AP reported.
He would also run with the tens of thousands of other competitors at RunDisney events.
Galloway died days before runners take their mark during RunDisney’s Princess Half Marathon weekend. The first race, a 5K, was scheduled for Feb. 27, with a 10K and half-marathon on subsequent days, WFTV reported.
One woman said in an online tribute to Galloway about her struggles to finish a half-marathon in Kentucky in 2011 when she ran into him on the course.
“You passed me, and my butt was cramping,” adding, “You turned around and came back. You talked me through it. It was awesome,” Susan Williams shared, according to the AP.
After suffering several heart attacks and heart failure in 2021, Galloway hoped to run one more marathon this year. He also had suffered a knee injury, breaking his kneecap days before the Honolulu Marathon last year.
“I’ve had a lot of goals that were like burning embers in my motivation,” he told The New York Times in January. “Doing another marathon, to me, feels like the strongest goal I’ve ever had in my life.”
Galloway left behind two sons and six grandchildren, the AP reported.
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