Samuel Ellis ‘25
Ethan Brown ‘25
Staff Editors
Pictured: The Run Route.
Photo Credit: Ethan Brown '25.
University of Virginia President Jim Ryan ’92 made the trek to North Grounds for a chilly Tuesday morning run with Law School students on October 18 as part of the Student Bar Association’s Mental Health Week. President Ryan—who is well-known on Main Grounds for his frequent “Runs with Jim”—joined students for a brisk 3.7 mile run to the Lawn and back, while Dean Risa Goluboff led a smaller group of students for a twenty-minute walk down Massie Road. Several faculty and staff members joined the run, including Assistant Dean for Admissions Natalie Blazer ’08 and Director of Student Affairs Megan Durkee ’10.
A healthy crowd had gathered by the event’s start time at 7:30 a.m. Dean Goluboff welcomed President Ryan, a former student and faculty member at the Law School, back to his old stomping grounds. Dean Goluboff praised President Ryan for his work-life balance, of which she acknowledged running was a large part, before assembling walkers and runners for a group photo.
After leaving the Law School just a few minutes after 7:30 a.m., the crowd of runners quickly separated into several smaller clusters. Ethan Brown ’25, trying to get some brief “speedwork” in before he runs the Richmond Half-Marathon in a few weeks, went towards the front.[1] Sam Ellis ’25, who ran the Chicago Marathon just a few weeks ago, had the brilliant idea of running closer to President Ryan to ask him some questions during the run.
The planned running route was a classic four-mile loop for frequent runners around North Grounds, leaving the Law School by following Massie, Copeley, and Alderman Roads. At McCormick Road, near the Observatory Hill dining hall on Main Grounds, we pivoted left, edging closer to the Lawn and the Rotunda. Then, immediately left of the Lawn, we snaked up McCormick toward University Avenue, running past the Madison Bowl, over Beta Bridge, and across the Lambeth Commons path, towards Emmet Street. For the final stretch, we were treated to Massie’s slow and painful gradual incline by John Paul Jones Arena, before a triumphant sprint past Darden to the front steps of the Law School.
Shortly after the Beta Bridge stretch, Ellis and another 1L waited for President Ryan’s running pack to rejoin them so they could enjoy a more personal conversation with the president. Their conversation centered on their most recent running endeavors; President Ryan said he would soon ramp up training for his twelfth Boston Marathon, as part of his intended twenty-year streak running the race. President Ryan told Sam that the famously difficult Boston Marathon qualifying times allow for slower races as a runner ages. For example, a woman in the 18–34 age range must run a marathon in under three hours and thirty minutes in order to qualify, whereas a woman in the 65–69 age range must run a time below four hours and thirty-five minutes.[2]The running times associated with each age range traditionally decrease by five-minute increments until a runner enters the 55–59 category, at which point the runner is allowed to run ten minutes slower. This increase in time and corresponding decrease in expectations for aging runners elicited mixed feelings for President Ryan, who at age fifty-six is expected to run under three hours and thirty-five minutes in order to qualify for the 2024 race.
After running in Charlottesville for many years, President Ryan has developed a wealth of knowledge regarding the running scene in the area. He recommended running the Ridge Road trail, an idyllic eight-mile out-and-back trail with low automobile traffic and medium levels of elevation gain.[3] After Sam expressed his goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon, President Ryan recommended visiting Ragged Mountain Running & Walking Shop on the Corner to sign up for Mark Lorenzoni’s marathon training plan. President Ryan noted that Lorenzoni’s training plan helps take the guesswork out of training. A Charlottesville staple, Ragged Mountain Running & Walking Shop is a family business run by the Lorenzonis, whose successes range from energizing and educating beginner runners to training athletes who qualified for the Olympic Marathon Trials.[4]
When all was said and done, we ran only 3.7 miles of the planned four—somewhere along the route, we shaved off a slim portion of the planned path, perhaps revealing that most of us were so excited to be running a few seconds ahead of President Ryan that we lost all conception of time and space.[5] Led by a 1L, we all arrived back on North Grounds, greeted by a catered breakfast.
Ultimately, even though both of us run around Charlottesville all the time, the “Run with Jim” felt like a wonderfully special way to start a Tuesday morning. And despite having to show up to Criminal Law at 8:30 a.m. while still sweaty, we have absolutely no regrets about joining President Ryan for his jaunt around Grounds.
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sav5mv@virginia.edu
bwj2cw@virginia.edu
[1] We humbly apologize for referring to ourselves in the third-person at points throughout this article, but YOU try writing an article about two people in first-person voice. It’s hard.
[2] https://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/qualify
[3] Located at (38.1031390, -78.6008679)
[4] https://www.runninginsight.com/ragged-mountain-running-walking
[5] This was a big deal, because President Ryan is fast—seriously fast.