Don McCullen, Jeff's father, Elliott Galloway, Jeff, and Jeff's son, Westin

The history of the Phidippides Running Centers mimics the history of the running boom of the 1970's. In 1972 Jeff Galloway had realized his life's dream of participating in the Munich Olympics and had also set an American record for the 10 mile. Jeff spent his summers traveling and competing in the racing circuit while completing college degrees in history and social studies during the school year. After a year of teaching he missed running and came up with a plan to open a running store stocked with the best gear, staffed by runners trained in the science of fitting shoes. The idea seemed timely since not only were the "serious" competitors  running but people of all ages, shapes and abilities were beginning to jump on the running craze. Jeff scraped together enough money to open a small store in Tallahassee calling it Phidipppides after the Greek messenger that was credited with running the distance that became what we now call the modern day Olympic Marathon. One of the few running companies that would sell product to Jeff in the begining was a brand new unknown company called Nike. After a year and a half Jeff moved the store back home to his native to Atlanta. By 1978 the running boom was in full stride and Jeff had established over 35 Phidippides franchise stores nationwide. After this great success Jeff decided to focus on writing and teaching the benefits of running through his clinics, fitness vacations and his nationally recognized Galloway Training Programs. Jeff continues to oversee the two Atlanta stores and has several store employees with over 20 years of experience, boasting the most experienced running specialty store staff in the country.