Galen Rupp enters Sunday’s NYC Half, his first race in four months, coming off what he called “a pretty rough” 2022.
The two-time Olympic medalist competed four times with two DNFs in the Big Apple (NYC Half and New York City Marathon) and, in the road events he did finish, results of seventh and 19th, all surrounded by neck and back pain.
Rupp’s New York City Marathon debut on Nov. 6 was his most recent race. His back began really bothering him after 10 miles. He dropped out around the 22nd mile after it “completely locked up.” “Obviously, the marathon left a little bit of a sour taste in my mouth,” Rupp said by phone last week. “Even the half last year in New York was a little bit of a disaster.
So, definitely wanted to go back, and I thought that a half marathon would be a good distance for where I’m at right now to kind of test myself and see where I’m at.” Rupp, a 36-year-old from Oregon, has taken it slow over the last few months.