Jeff Galloway, an Olympian who charted his own path in the 1970s running boom by spreading the use of the run/walk method, died on Wednesday at age 80.
Galloway suffered a hemorrhagic stroke and died from complications at a hospital in Pensacola, Florida. He underwent emergency neurosurgery last week.
In a message posted on social media, Galloway’s family confirmed his death and reflected on the impact he had on countless runners in a career that spanned more than 50 years.
“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,” the message said. “Jeff spent his life proving that anyone could cross a finish line. He celebrated every mile, every walk break, and every finish. He coached millions, but found fulfillment in each of your stories of personal accomplishment.”
Galloway built himself into a trusted authority in running during the pivotal first major running boom in the Unites States in the 1970s and would ultimately become a coach, author, shoe-store owner as he pushed the run/walk strategy of injecting periods of walking in runs of any distance.
He believed that walking helped reduce injury and kept runners focused and would ultimately rebuild their confidence to continue training.
In a profile in The New York Times in January, Galloway said he ran 236 marathons but also dealt with serious health scares like heart failure in 2021 but also acknowledged that he would faced continued setbacks to his running as he aged.
“It’s a mountain that I’ll be climbing,” he said. “I’m going to get much more fatigued than I have been in 10 or more years. I’m older now, so it’s going to really be harder for me to deal with a lot of these things. And I know that there are going to be issues that come up after age 80 that did not come up when I was younger.”
Just prior to the 2025 Honolulu Marathon in December, he suffered a knee injury after building up his fitness to deploy his run-walk method at the race.
Before he put his imprint in the surging running culture of the 1970s, Galloway competed in track and cross-country at Wesleyan University in the mid-1960s and alongside teammates Amby Burfoot and Bill Rodgers. After graduating in 1967, he joined the Navy at the height of the Vietnam War and saw active duty for over a year and a half. His doctors believed he was exposed to the potent defoliant Agent orange during the war but his stringent fitness through running helped curb the effects of the harmful chemical.
After three years in the Navy, Galloway was discharged in 1970 and joined the masters program at Florida State University and took advantage of the nearby trails in Tallahassee. With Shorter and Jack Bacheler nearby at the Florida Track Club in Gainesville, Galloway turned his attention to making the Olympic team and qualified for the Munich Olympics in the 10,000m.
The following year, he founded Phidippides in Tallahassee, a specialty running store named after the ancient Greek messenger, with his wife Barbara as the chain expanded to over 50 locations nationwide. The formula behind the popularity of the stores was to offer a full range of products, training groups, coaching and activities that poured into the growing appetite of American distance running at the time.
As his professional career came to an end after a failed by to make the U.S. team for the 1976 Montreal Olympics, Galloway continued to pivot into other areas of the sport, becoming an author of more than 20 books, with his 1984 bestseller, “Galloway’s Book on Running,” serving as a blueprint to runners of all abilities, especially for those just entering the sport.
The books were an extension of his growing brand as his run/walk technique, often called “Jeffing” or “Gallowalking” helped usher in an era that made running more accessible to a wider audience. Galloway’s imprint on running remained consistent as helped create a global circuit of women’s road race with the Avon Corporation in 1978 before the marathon was included in the Olympics in 1984. Galloway was also the training consultant for runDisney, the race series at Walt Disney resorts.
“He was genuinely thrilled by every single accomplishment, whether you were crossing the finish line of your fastest marathon or nervously finishing your first mile,” the social media post from his family said on Wednesday. “To Jeff, both were worthy of celebration because both required you to believe in yourself and take the risk of trying. Jeff did not just make runners. He empowered people to believe in themselves.”
Galloway is survived by his sons Westin and Brennan and six grandchildren.
