The running world lost one of its most generous and quietly revolutionary figures yesterday with the passing of Jeff Galloway. He was 80 years old. A 1972 Olympian, bestselling author, and tireless coach to everyday runners, Galloway is celebrated above all for a beautifully counterintuitive idea: that deliberately walking during a run does not mean you have failed. It means you are being smart. That idea — now known the world over simply as “jeffing” — has made running accessible to millions of people who never imagined they could cover 5 kilometres, let alone a marathon.

For many members of Ackworth Road Runners, jeffing is not just a training technique but the reason they are members at all. This article celebrates Jeff’s life and legacy, and explains the method to anyone curious about trying it for themselves.

The Life of an Olympian

Jeff Galloway was born on 12 July 1945 in Raleigh, North Carolina. His talent was evident from his schooldays at The Westminster Schools in Atlanta, where he became Georgia state champion in the two-mile. At Wesleyan University he earned All-American honours in both cross-country and track, running a 4:12 mile and training alongside future Boston Marathon winner Amby Burfoot and Bill Rodgers — two names that would become legends of American distance running.

After service in the United States Navy and graduate study at Florida State University, Galloway joined the Florida Track Club — one of the most storied training groups in American athletics, led by Frank Shorter. In 1972, all three — Galloway, Shorter and Jack Bacheler — made the US Olympic team for Munich. Shorter would win gold in the marathon in one of the Games’ most celebrated performances. Galloway competed in the 10,000 metres. In a telling act of character, he reportedly gave up his own shot at making the marathon team so that his friend Bacheler could take the final spot, pacing him through the trial before stepping aside at the finish line. “My greatest thrill,” Galloway later wrote, “was pacing Jack through the marathon trial and then dropping back at the finish so that he could take the remaining spot.”

In 1973 Galloway won the inaugural Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta — now one of America’s great running events — and set an American ten-mile road record of 47:49. He remained a competitive masters runner into his late thirties, running 2:16:35 at the Houston marathon at age 35, a remarkable time achieved by training smarter rather than harder.

The Visionary Behind the Method

The seeds of Galloway’s most enduring contribution were sown in the mid-1970s when, battling the wear of heavy mileage, he began experimenting with a different approach: shorter runs, more rest, and a long run every other week. The results were striking — he ran faster and stayed healthier. He began sharing what he had learned, and in 1978 co-founded the Avon International Women’s Marathon, helping to build the case that eventually put the women’s marathon on the Olympic programme. In 1984 he published Galloway’s Book on Running, a text that has guided several generations of recreational runners.

But it was his formalisation of the run-walk-run method — together with the “Magic Mile” race predictor — that cemented his extraordinary influence. Through Galloway Productions, he coached marathon training groups across the United States and mentored runners in dozens of countries. He contributed a monthly column to Runner’s World for many years. He approached all of it with a warmth and conviction that was impossible to fake: he genuinely believed that almost anyone could run almost any distance if they went about it wisely.

What Is Jeffing?

Jeffing — named affectionately in his honour — is the practice of incorporating planned, structured walk breaks into a run from the very start, rather than walking only when forced to by exhaustion. This is the crucial distinction: the walk break is a strategy, not a surrender.

How It Works

You choose a run-to-walk ratio that suits your current fitness and pace, then repeat that cycle for the entire distance. The ratio is decided before you start and stuck to regardless of how you feel — even if you feel great in the early miles. That discipline is the whole point. Common ratios to start with are:

As fitness develops, runners gradually extend the running segment while keeping the walk break consistent. A one-minute walk break is typical for most levels — short enough to maintain rhythm, long enough to allow genuine recovery.

The science behind it is straightforward. When you run continuously until fatigued, your form deteriorates and your muscles accumulate stress. A scheduled walk break resets your posture, lowers your heart rate, and flushes lactic acid before real fatigue sets in. The result is that many runners complete long distances in similar overall times — and arrive feeling dramatically better than they would have running straight through.

Galloway was also at pains to point out something psychologically significant: jeffers who feel strong in the final miles of a race are frequently passing people who ran non-stop. For many, that reversal of expectation is the moment they truly believe in the method.

Who Is It For?

The short answer is: almost everyone, at some point in their running life. Jeffing is especially well-suited to:

• Beginners building their aerobic base for the first time
• Returning runners coming back from injury or a long break
• Anyone training for longer distances such as half marathons or marathons
• Runners who have struggled with persistent injuries or whose bodies find continuous running hard
• Older runners managing the cumulative load on joints and connective tissue

That said, faster and more experienced runners also use the method strategically. Galloway himself advocated for its use by runners of all abilities, arguing that walk breaks are most beneficial when taken before you need them, not after.

Jeffing has become particularly popular in the UK parkrun and road racing community over the past decade, and it is not unusual at any large race to see runners proudly timing their intervals, wearing the method as a badge of thoughtful training rather than limitation.

Jeffing at Ackworth Road Runners

Ackworth Road Runners has embraced the run-walk-run approach as a core part of what the club offers. Whether you are brand new to running, returning after time away, or simply looking for a more sustainable way to build your distance, you are very welcome in our jeffing groups. Our club training sessions run on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and jeffing groups run as a regular part of the programme — supportive, social, and guided by coaches who understand and believe in the method.

Find out more about our Tuesday and Thursday training sessions →

A Legacy That Will Keep Running

Jeff Galloway’s legacy is not measured in Olympic medals, though he earned one of those. It is measured in the hundreds of thousands of people who crossed finish lines they once thought impossible — people who started running in their forties, fifties or sixties and discovered that the sport had room for them after all. It is measured in communities that grew around his training programmes, books worn soft at the spines, and the small rituals of runners quietly counting intervals on roads and trails around the world.

He proved something important: that kindness and intelligence can change a sport. Not every revolution needs to be loud. Sometimes you just need someone to say, clearly and warmly and with the authority of an Olympian, that it is perfectly fine to walk — and that doing so will make you stronger.

Here at Ackworth Road Runners, we owe him a debt. Rest well, Jeff.