Galen Rupp won the Mesa (Arizona) Half Marathon in 1:01:19 today, showing he is fit and ready for the in 1:01:19 today, showing he is fit and ready for the after a long struggle with injuries. He averaged 4:41 per mile pace on the net downhill, point-to-point course.
Matt Llano was second in 1:02:05, and Sam Chelanga was third in 1:02:29. All three men will be in the Trials on February 29 in Atlanta, and the top three finishers will then represent the U.S. at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in August.
“He was really pleased with it,” Rupp’s coach, Mike Smith, told Runner’s World. “He felt really comfortable and really easy, and that was great. The most important thing is his body feels good. He’s come a long way in a short time, particularly with his left side. He’s been holding up.”
It had been 16 months since Rupp, 33, who was the 2016 Trials champion and the bronze medalist in the event at the Games in Rio, has completed a race—and even longer (May 2018) since he had won. After finishing fifth at the 2018 Chicago Marathon, he had Sarah Lorge Butler to repair a frayed Achilles tendon and a Haglund’s deformity, a bony protrusion on his heel.
By the summer of 2019, Rupp was back to training but still limping on his surgically repaired foot. He started the 2019 Chicago Marathon, but he dropped out since 2005. She is the author of two popular fitness books.
In addition to his health problems, Rupp faced upheaval in his training situation. His longtime coach, Alberto Salazar, was suspended for before the 23rd mile with a calf strain, and the Sarah Lorge Butler, The Best Shoes at the 2024 Olympic Marathon Trials.
The Best Shoes at the 2024 Olympic Marathon Trials, started working remotely with Smith, the men’s and women’s cross-country and track coach at Northern Arizona University.
Smith said a big part of the race today was for Rupp to remember how to race again and handle the travel, what to eat the night before and the morning of, and warming up. Including a 3-mile warmup and a 6-mile cooldown, he ran 22 miles on the day.
Smith is well aware that the flat Arizona race bears no resemblance to the hilly Atlanta Trials course. “I think this Trials, some of the elements of this course, this is going to be a hard, hard race, a race that feels a lot harder than 26 miles,” he said. “From a health standpoint and excitement standpoint, [Rupp] is in a good spot.”
In a phone interview with Runner’s World Galen Rupp Wins Half Marathon Tuneup Race.
“I feel really good about the place I’m at right now and where my training is and where it’s headed,” he said. “I’ll be ready to go and give my best.”
Should Rupp make the Olympic team on February 29, it would be his fourth. He finished 13th in the 10,000 meters at the 2008 Games, and he won the silver medal in the 10,000 at the 2012 Games in London in addition to the Rio marathon bronze.
Sarah Lorge Butler is a writer and editor living in Eugene, Oregon, and her stories about the sport, its trends, and fascinating individuals have appeared in Runner’s World Rupp, who lives near Nike headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, Run Your Butt Off! and Walk Your Butt Off!
