Galen Rupp is Training Again After Foot Surgery

By Adam Kopet

With the Boston Marathon dominating recent headlines, it was easy to miss the return to training of Galen Rupp. He has returned to training following surgery on his foot for an injury that hampered him at the 2018 Chicago Marathon.

Great to see this guy training again! pic.twitter.com/9ubkpYQfXu

— Oregon Project (@OregonPJT) April 9, 2019

Rupp finished fifth in Chicago, running 2:06:21, more than a minute back of his former training partner, Mo Farah. Rupp had entered Chicago having won the race in 2017.

The 2018 Chicago Marathon also served as the first time Rupp had not run a personal best in a marathon. He had steadily improved in each race going back to 2016 when he captured a bronze medal in the Olympic marathon. He was 14 seconds off his best of 2:06:07 from the 2018 Prague Marathon.

Even though Rupp is back training again, do not expect him to toe the line in a race any time soon. He will certainly not be defending his Prague Marathon title next month.

Although Rupp has not been announced for a fall marathon yet, he is likely to return to Chicago for the third time. Fellow Nike Oregon Project member Jordan Hasay, who just finished third at Monday's Boston Marathon, announced her intention to return to the Chicago Marathon in October.

For the past three years, Rupp has been the top men's marathoner in the U.S. In addition to his Olympic bronze medal, he won the 2016 Olympic Trials Marathon and finished in the top two spots at both of his 2017 marathons. Rupp has never placed worse than fifth in a marathon he finished (Rupp dropped out of the 2018 Boston Marathon with an asthma issue).

Rupp's absence from the spring marathons has given other Americans a chance to shine. Since 2013, Rupp had been the only American to break 2:10 in the marathon. Now two more have joined him. Scott Fauble and Jared Ward ran 2:09:09 and 2:09:25 for seventh and eighth, respectively, at Monday's Boston Marathon.