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5 days ago
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Jeff Galloway has run more than 230 marathons. He was a member of the US team at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, has a 10km personal best of about 28 minutes and he has been a running coach for more than 50 years. But perhaps the 79-year-old’s greatest achievement is creating the run-walk method known as “Jeffing” that can be practised by beginners and experienced runners alike.
“Firstly, I must say how proud I am to be a verb,” says Galloway, before explaining that the idea goes back to 1973. “I was encouraging beginners to run, but they were suffering all types of aches and pains. I then realised that even world-class athletes need to warm up properly. They start at low intensity with a jog and then speed up to get the blood flowing.
“So, I took that pace-shifting template and applied it to a group of 22 people with an average age of 42. We started off walking, flowed into a jog and then walked again. We followed that pattern and at the end of the 10-week programme, every one of the 22 had finished either a 5km or a 10km. That was great in itself, but I then realised none of the group broke down with injury. I’d never before trained a group of runners where at least one hadn’t been injured.”
Galloway says he has not had an injury himself since 1978. He believes that his walk-run strategy is more “natural” than non-stop efforts. “According to anthropologists, while humans were designed for long distances – up to 5,000 miles during the earliest migrations – we weren’t designed for non-stop running. It’s not inherently in our DNA to run continuously, which is why many individuals break down.”
As Jeffing cuts the chances of injury, people are able to exercise consistently, with all the mental and physical benefits this brings. Galloway describes these benefits as “circuits”. “The ‘good attitude’ circuit sees your stresses disappear,” he says. “You then have the ‘vitality’ circuit. You might lack energy at the start [of your workout] but once you’ve got into it, you’re energised for the day. This feedback kept our ancient ancestors going when they were seeking food. Finally, you have the ‘empowerment’ circuit. Go Jeffing and you’ll usually find a solution to your problems.”
As for the physical reboot, running and walking are classified as cardio exercise, which improves blood and oxygen flow, resulting in better cardiovascular health plus better weight management. “You’ll burn through the fat,” he says. “Look at me. I’m 79 and the exact size as I was at the [1972] Olympics.”
Everyone is welcome
All of this is achieved, he says, with less stress on your body. This resonates with Sandra Haynes, 57, from Liskeard in Cornwall, who started running in 2016. “It’s improved my fitness no end,” she says. “My mental health’s better, too, and it helps with menopause symptoms. All in all, it’s the sustainability of keeping fit, while chatting and laughing with like-minded folk. I hope I’m still doing this in my 70s. As do our group…”
Haynes founded Power Runs Cornwall in 2021. Initially, they offered a Run-30 course, similar to Couch to 5k, designed so that you could run continuously for 30 minutes by the end of the programme. The group flourished but Haynes noted that many were picking up injuries. “That’s when we offered a Jeffing option. It’s really taken off; in fact, we have more Jeffers than continual runners. So many would have given up exercise if Jeffing wasn’t an option.”
Haynes says between 15 and 25 people meet twice a week for a Jeffing session, with a mix of ages and genders. They split into two groups, offering a 3km option or 5km. There’s a leader at the front, a tailender at the back and they adjust the walk-run strategy depending on the terrain and how they’re feeling.
Huffing and puffing? Time to walk
If you’re trying Jeffing yourself, use huffing and puffing as your guide, says Galloway: “As soon as you start huffing and puffing, take a walk break. In many cases, it’s more accurate than using a heart monitor.”
When starting off, this might mean running intervals of one or two minutes, followed by longer walking intervals. Do this for about 20 minutes. Over time, the run intervals lengthen while the walking ones shorten. The whole session might lengthen, too, depending on your goals. For some, this might simply be Jeffing with a friend. For others, it might be a race.
“I Jeff all of my events, and my 2025 goal is to complete a 10-mile event,” says Haynes. “I’ve met many Jeffers who Jeff marathons, half-marathons, 5km and 10km races. The Girls That Jeff Facebook page is a great advocate for Jeffing. I recently met an experienced runner who was going to Jeff the Boston marathon.”
Race winners
Surprisingly, Jeffing doesn’t necessarily mean losing out on speed. Galloway says that veteran runners would come to him asking about his method when they saw beginner Jeffers finishing a marathon faster than them. This is backed up by a 2016 study in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport which found that non-elite Jeffing participants reached the finish line of a marathon in roughly the same time as nonstop runners. A mixed gender group of run-walkers finished in times ranging between 4:14 and 4:34, with the run-only group’s times ranging from 4:07 to 4:34.
“In our database, we’ve discovered that 30 seconds is the maximum walking time that bestows the greatest amount of benefit,” says Galloway. “This results in a good pace and recalibrates the muscle’s fatigue levels from the get-go. Take a 26-mile marathon. When you reach the halfway point, you don’t have about 13 miles of fatigue in the legs; it’s more like 10 or 11 miles. In many races, our Jeffing folks are the ones at the end that are passing people. And there’s nothing more exciting in life than that!” It’s why, he adds, about 40% of those who sign up to one of their training programmes are experienced runners hoping to either finish faster or keep running until they’re 100.
If you are an experienced runner, you might well be thinking, what’s the difference between Jeffing and fartlek – a training protocol that alternates between sprinting and jogging? “They’re similar but with fartleks, there’s no strict determination of when or for how long you’ll sprint. And you don’t really sprint in Jeffing,” says Galloway. “With Jeffing, you start out with a set walk-run ratio, albeit you can change it during a session if you’re feeling stronger or weaker. It’s up to the individual.”
Galloway’s a 100% Jeffer and has been for years. It’s kept him fighting fit and he believes it saved his life. “I had a heart attack three years ago, which was due to Agent Orange exposure during the Vietnam war.” The US used this chemical herbicide to remove forest leaves and expose the hiding Viet Cong. “It led to a blockage of the right artery. No blood was getting through but I was surviving on collateral circulation [backup blood vessels that take over when an artery or vein is blocked]. My doctor said that if I’d tried to non-stop run consistently, this would have happened 20 years before and I’d be dead. Thankfully, I’m a Jeffing addict. There are worse things to be addicted to.”
