Mid-December Race Has Fans Talking

By Scott Bush

On a chilly and cloudy (but dry) Sunday morning, Nike Oregon Project's Galen Rupp took to the starting line at the Foot Traffic Holiday Half Marathon  & 5K. In a rare appearance racing in his hometown of Portland, Rupp paced himself over the 13.1 mile course, winning with ease and a grin in 1:01:20.

Rupp's performance ranks him US#2 over the half marathon distance in the United States in 2015, only slower than Diego Estrada's inspired 1:00:51 performance at the USATF Half Marathon Championships. Rupp's performance also was an automatic qualifier for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials set for February 13 in Los Angeles. Whether Rupp intends to race in LA or not remains a question, but has fans of the Nike-sponsored runner talking.

Top Five American Men - Half Marathon - 2015

60:51 - Diego Estrada (Asics)
61:20 - Galen Rupp (NOP)
61:42 - Jared Ward (Saucony)
62:04 - Andrew Bumbalough (BTC)
62:07 - Dathan Ritzenhein (Nike)