Galen Rupp on His Return to Racing with an American Record, Training Solo and Wearing Masks (Bonus Pod)

"We wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to get better. I don’t have the pressure to get into a marathon build-up or if the Olympics were happening. I wanted to come out of this better. A big part of that for me was maybe taking it a little easier with the mileage and intensity and focusing back to strengthening up my leg. I lost a lot of muscle – not just in my ankle and those tendons but throughout that left leg. It’s been a long process and I think I certainly underestimated how difficult it would be. It’s been two years since I was operated on but I feel like I’m finally getting back to my old self and getting some good push-off in my left leg. There was certainly a big hitch in my stride at the trials. I really wasn’t getting a lot of push there. It was just setting down and pivoting. My right leg was doing a lot of the work. I can certainly say that I’ve made some big improvements mechanically with that."

It’s been eight months since Galen Rupp won the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials on Feb. 29. In that span of time, he says he has not run a single step with another person. He’s still been training but he’s been grinding solo. That all changed on Friday when Eugene Marathon organizers put together the Row River Half Marathon. It was Rupp, Suguru Osako (his former Oregon Project teammate) and Patrick Tiernan. Many thought that Rupp could take a crack at Ryan Hall’s American record of 59:43 could be in jeopardy but Rupp finished the race in 60:22. His PR is still 59:47 from Prague in 2018.

However, he walked away from Friday with the new American record in the 10-mile since he split 45:53 and Greg Meyer had run 46:13 in 1983. Osako finished behind him in 61:15. In order for the record to count, I believe you need three finishers so Pat Tiernan, who paced for a bit, took third in 66:42.

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Episode photo provided by Jon Marx/Eugene Marathon

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