Galen Rupp wins Prague Marathon in 2:06:07 and joined the 2:06 club!

Galen Rupp, photo by PhotoRun.net

Galen Rupp ran a strong marathon, and a PB by over three minutes and thirteen seconds, with his VW Prague Marathon win on Sunday, May 6, 2018. Rupp ran a smart race, hitting the halfway in 1:03:02, and running the last 2.2 kilometers in 6:26.

Rupp recovered from his misadventure in Boston, and ran a three plus minute PB in Prague, winning by 55 seconds.

GALEN RUPP RUNS INTO 2ND ON U.S. ALL-TIME LIST WITH 2:06:07 WIN AT PRAGUE MARATHON – Today, America’s most prominent distance runner Galen Rupp had partaken in his 6th marathon start of his career and left with a result most assuring for U.S. fans. Rupp has earned two medals on the Olympic stage–silver in the 10,000m (2012) and bronze in the marathon (2016)–but had yet to produce a time in the marathon that was to the level of his 26:44.36 PB on the track. To the credit of the pacers and the only sub-2:05 man in the field Sisay Lemma, Rupp was driven to the line in 2:06:07 to win by 55 seconds. At times in the race the pace had slowed considerably (they went from a 29:36 split to a 30:40), but once the last pacesetter dropped Lemma and Rupp formed a tag team effort to increase the pace back up. A 14:39 split put them back up on pace and if they maintained that to the finish they would have run under the course record (2:05:39) and American record (2:05:38). As expected, the pace died down again and the final 10k split was run in 29:54, but still leaving sub 2:06 as a possibility. After dropping Lemma, Rupp made a hard drive toward the finish but would come just short of 2:05. He managed to split evenly for the halves (63:02/63:05), but there always will be the “might’ve been” if pace didn’t drop in the race’s middle sections. – RACE RESULTS – [USA 🇺🇸] GALEN RUPP’S PB SPLITS AT PRAGUE MARATHON (🇨🇿) ・・ 1st/2nd Halves: 63:02 / 63:05 = 2:06:07 ・・ CKPT – Clock Time | 5km Split | 10km Split 05km – 14:52 | 14:52 | 10km – 29:36 | 14:44 | 29:36 15km – 44:28 | 14:52 | 20km – 59:45 | 15:17 | 30:09 HALF 1:03:02 | ( 2:06:04 Overall M-Pace ) 25km 1:15:08 | 15:23 | 30km 1:29:47 | 14:39 | 30:02 35km 1:44:49 | 15:02 | 40km 1:59:41 | 14:52 | 29:54 FULL🏁 2:06:07 | ( ~4:48.6/mi [~2:59.3/km] ) ・・ Last 2.2K in 6:26 min (14:39 5km pace) ••• CV: ~:47 = 2:05:20 – #galenrupp #praguemarathon #teamusa #iaaf #marathonmajors #milesplit #letsrun #flotrack #usatf #worlderunners #worldrunners #goat #nikeplus #justdoit #nikerunning #tracknation #trackandfield #track #raceday #runnershigh #runnerslife #goldmedal #runnerspace #tracklife #trackday #runner #run #runners #running

A post shared by T&F News Daily #PragueMarathon (@the_running_statistician) on May 6, 2018 at 1:59pm PDT

Galen Rupp had to withdraw from the Boston Marathon on April 16, due to an asthma reaction to the cold, rain and wind. Rupp left the course around 19 miles, and had to call it a day. He then returned to training in a few days and focused on taking his fine fitness to run a strong marathon performance. His marathon races so far have been pretty tactical or championship driven, and in Prague, he actuallly could run all out, and became part of the 2:06 club, a time consistent with his 26:44 10,000m AR.

We are so happy for Galen Rupp, as he continues to develop and runs the distance that he was built for. His 5000m and 10,000m on the track leg speed gives him a fine speed benefit in the longer distance. :

Congratulations to Galen Rupp (my hand slapping bud) for winning the Prague Marathon with a great time of 2:06:07. Followed his run with a nice one of my own; 8 miles with a tempo run thrown in the middle. #galenrupp #praguemarathon #tempo #marathon #trailrunning #kneerecovery #running #run

A post shared by Rich Sands (@runningrich) on May 6, 2018 at 1:13pm PDT