The Magic of the 30-Second Walk Interval

The run/walk method has been around since the 1970s, and it has surged in popularity as more athletes learn that regular walk intervals may help you run longer—and faster. Olympic marathoner and running coach Jeff Galloway developed run/walk for all types of athletes, including those who run sub-3 hour marathons to runners just getting into the sport. One consistent rules across the ratios? In almost every case, the walk interval is 30 seconds. This holds true whether the run intervals are four minutes or 10 seconds long. Chris Twiggs, chief training officer of the Galloway Training Programs, currently coaches between 220 to 250 athletes through the Galloway Method, including ultrarunners, people training for their first 5Ks, Boston qualifier hopefuls, and those aiming to finish a marathon in under seven hours. “Every single one of them,” he says, trains with 30-second walks. “It’s just a question of how much running do we throw in.”