2025 RunBlogRun Summer Mileage Program, July 23, 2025, Week 3, day 3, an easy day. Galen Rupp wants a 5th Olympic team.

Wednesday, warm-up, 45-60 minutes of easy running in the hills, cool-down.

Today, we are speaking about Galen Rupp.

Galan Rupp has been on Olympic teams four times!

I recall watching Galen in Bejing in 2008, taken 13th in the 10,000m. The weather was ungodly hot and humid. Galen Rupp had his first experience in the Bird’s Nest stadium.

In London 2012, Galen and his training partner, Mo Farah, won gold and silver (Mo gold, Galen silver) in a hotly contested 10,000m. In the 5,000m, Galen was 7th.

Rio 2016 was cold and raining in the Stadium Engenhao, where Galen Rupp battled everyone to the very end, taking 5th in the 10,000m, where his former training partner, Mo Farah, took gold once again. In the marathon, Galen Rupp took his second Olympic medal in the rain and humidity of Rio, taking the bronze in the marathon. Galen told this writer, years later, that it was so tough in Rio, he just “took it one mile at a time.” Eliud Kipchoge won the Olympic marathon.

In his fourth Olympics, in Tokyo in 2021 (the Olympics were transferred from 2020 due to the pandemic). In the Tokyo Marathon, the heat and humidity was brutal. Galen Rupp took 8th in the marathon, fading near the end, as Eliud Kipchoge won his second Olympic marathon gold.

Galen Rupp began his running in Central Catholic high school as a fine cross country runner. This writer watched Galen Rupp win the NIKE Border Clash as a junior in high school. In college, Galen took second in the NCAA XC as a junior, leading his team to take win at the 2009 NCAA Cross Country Championships.

Cross-country builds endurance. Cross-country builds confidence in runners from the 400m to the 5,000m. I have seen pole vaulters run cross country, and make the top five on the team (then, move to the decathlon). Cross-country changes runners. Galen Rupp came through cross-country and he attributes the early running in cross-country and high school track as key parts of his later success.

Just so you know, Galen Rupp is looking for one last run at an Olympic team in 2028. With his 4 children being teenagers by that time, Galen told this writer that it would be cool for them to see and appreciate his focus on his fifth Olympic team.