Galen Rupp sets American 10-mile record, wins half-marathon in 1:00:22

Rupp fell short of the U.S. half-marathon record, but he still went home with a race win and the national best over 10 miles

Photo by: Twitter/EugeneMarathon

Ben Snider-McGrath November 1, 2020

On Friday, Galen Rupp won his first race back since his victory in February at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Atlanta. En route to taking the win in 1:00:22, Rupp set the American 10-mile record with a 45:54 split. The two-time Olympic medallist crossed the line ahead of Japanese marathon record-holder Suguru Osako, who finished in second in 1:01:15. The race, which was a low-key event organized by the Eugene Marathon in Oregon, saw just three finishers, with Australian Pat Tiernan coming in third behind Rupp and Osako in 1:06:42.

No fans, no problem. Still breaking records. During today’s race, Galen Rupp set an American Record for the 10 Mile distance, and a new PR for the Half Marathon on a record eligible course. pic.twitter.com/1UkT9joUIF

— Eugene Marathon (@EugeneMarathon) October 30, 2020

Back to racing

As reported by The Oregonian, after the race, Rupp said he was pleased with his run. “Any time you set a record, it’s a great day,” he said. “I think this technically is my PR for a half-marathon, too.” Rupp has run faster over 21.1K, but he said his time of 59:47 from a race in Italy in 2018 wasn’t run on a eligible course (although this result is not labelled as unofficial on the World Athletics all-time list), so his 1:00:22 showing over the weekend is his new PB.

“It was a great day,” he said. “Any time you can [run a record], you can’t leave disappointed. I would have loved to go faster. It just wasn’t in the cards today.” Although the race wasn’t officially billed as a half-marathon record attempt, many thought Rupp could challenge Ryan Hall‘s American best of 59:43. He ultimately finished well short of that mark, but he put the rest of the distance running world on notice, showing his competitors that he’s still in top form less than a year out from the Tokyo Games. Tokyo will be Rupp’s fourth time racing at the Olympics, and he’ll be looking to improve on his bronze medal from the marathon in Rio in 2016.

The finish.

? @EugeneMarathon pic.twitter.com/9oZWedzU8K

— USATF (@usatf) October 30, 2020

Like Rupp, while Osako didn’t specifically say he was shooting for a half-marathon record, a lot of people thought he might break the Japanese record of 1:00:00. Unfortunately, Osako was far off the mark, missing the Japanese record by more than a minute and falling short of his half-marathon PB of 1:01:13 by just two seconds. Tiernan’s main job on Friday was to pace Osako and Rupp, but after the pair took off, he continued on to finish the race. He finished minutes behind his half-marathon PB of 1:01:22, but he came extremely close to beating the 37-year-old Australian 15K record of 42:47.

Rupp’s 10-mile record

Rupp passed through 15K in 42:47 (which is the fourth-fastest 15K time in American history), and a little over a kilometre later, he posted his 10-mile time of 45:54, far ahead of Greg Meyer‘s record of 46:13 from 1983. Rupp’s time still has to be ratified, but race organizers have said the course was certified and record-eligible. Rupp may not have broken the half-marathon record, but his run is still one of the fastest ever run by an American.

Back to racing

Rupp’s 10-mile record

Check out the latest buyer's guide:

Best trail running gear for spring 2024