Ethan Brown '25
Features Editor
Two weeks ago, I finally did something that I’ve wanted to do since I started running in high school: I ran a marathon. To anyone who’s talked to me for more than a minute during the past four months, this is probably not news, because I’m (a) annoying and (b) repetitive. But I have a good tradition in the Law Weekly of reviewing different runs—including the Law School’s annual “Run with Jim” and the Charlottesville Ten Miler—so it feels essential to now recap my experiences training for, and running, the 2023 Philadelphia Marathon.
Pictured: Nicholas Sheets '25 and Ethan Brown '25 running at mile six
Photo credit: Matthew Lowrie
Training[1]
I came into marathon training with about a decade of casual running experience. I never ran cross-country competitively, but my sister did, so from ages fourteen to eighteen my running was pretty piecemeal—a few miles at a time, a few days a week—and usually happened only when she wanted company on her easy runs. I started running on my own in college. By the time I registered for the Philadelphia Marathon back in July, I’d run five half-marathons, and usually ran about twenty-five to thirty miles a week. So, I wanted a training plan that didn’t start from the ground floor, but was also realistic about the fact that this was my first time running more than 13.1 miles.
I settled on Hal Higdon’s Novice 2 training program. This plan provides for four days of running—including a long run on Sunday—as well as one day of cross-training and two days off each week. The plan is eighteen weeks long, so I started it in late July. I did a decent job of adhering to it, save for a few missteps, like not cross-training during about half of the weeks and skipping one long run (my nineteen miler) on a particularly rough weekend for work where I just couldn’t be bothered. At most, the plan as written peaks at thirty-five miles a week, but I exceeded this occasionally and hit up to forty-five miles a few weeks in October. All in all, the plan felt incredibly accessible. Next marathon, I’m certainly going to follow a plan with more guidance for speed workouts, but I am glad I chose this one for my first go.
Why Philadelphia?
I knew I wanted to do a fall marathon—what’s better than a weekend long run in Charlottesville during autumn?—but unsurprisingly, there are many September, October, and November races out there. I thought about doing the Richmond Marathon in mid-November (just a week before Philly!), but I had already run the half marathon there twice and wanted to try something new. So, when I heard over the summer that several other UVA Law students were running Philly, I figured I would join the herd.
On that note, there were a genuinely staggering amount of UVA folks running the race despite it being almost 300 miles away; I know of about ten other 2Ls who ran it too. Among them was Bryce Campanelli ’25, who in addition to running an incredibly speedy race, led a fundraiser through Movember to publicize men’s mental health issues in the weeks preceding the marathon.[2]
Pictured: Movember fundraiser participants
Photo credit: Bryce Campanelli '25
Race Weekend
Philly totally passed the vibe check, which I aptly described in my article reviewing the Ten-Miler as being based on three factors: weather, route, and spectators.
First, the weather was fantastic; we enjoyed a crisp, sunny 37 degrees at the start line, which warmed up gradually over the course of the morning. I overdressed a little because I was nervous about being chilly, so I wore shorts and running tights, as well as a long-sleeve top. Next time, I’ll stick to just shorts.
Second, I loved the route. Since I’d never been to Philadelphia before, I appreciated that the route covered some of Philly’s most notable sights, including City Hall, Independence Hall, UPenn, suburban Manayunk, and the iconic “Rocky steps” at the Museum of Art. My only qualm is that the last eight or so miles were an “out-and-back” between downtown Philly to Manayunk, and if there’s anything you don’t want to see at mile seventeen, it’s the mile marker for mile twenty-three that you happen to be six miles away from passing.
Third, the spectator game was strong. Luckily, the points of the race where I felt most worn down were also the places with the most spectators. A surprisingly high number of them called out their encouragement using my name, which I had printed on my bib; it’s lame, but the personalization helped. I also was very fortunate to have my boyfriend and my former college roommate travel with me to Philly to cheer me on.
So yes, every factor was there for a good race. But honestly, I enjoyed the marathon even more than I thought I would.[3] Everyone always calls law school a marathon, so it felt deeply poetic to run a “real” marathon as I near (almost exactly) the halfway point of this one, with my 2L fall almost over. And I obviously found it rewarding to check something off my bucket list that’d been there for almost a decade, especially since I’d made the time to do it during a particularly stressful few months. I am already excited for my next marathon, and if this article piqued your interest, I hope to see you out there next time.
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bwj2cw@virginia.edu
[1] I am genuinely the world’s most average runner—I placed just above median in my age division of men 20-24 at the race—so take my training “recommendations,” if you can even call them that, with several grains of salt. I’m out here for vibes, not speed. If you want tips from faster folks, reach out to some of the cool people at the North Grounds Track Club!
[2] You can donate to Bryce’s fundraiser here: https://movember.com/m/14977163?mc=1.
[3] This is in no small part to the fact that I ran every step of the 26.2 miles with my friend Nicholas Sheets ’25.