Third-year law student Sam Ellis has been a runner since his undergraduate days. In 2023, he suffered a stress fracture that required aqua jogging to allow his tibia to recover.
He learned one rule of the underwater drill is that if you don’t look silly, you’re doing it wrong. That’s a mentality he has brought to the North Grounds Track Club, which he founded at the University of Virginia School of Law in the spring of his first year.
“If you’re not willing to put yourself out there, give it your best go and maybe look silly along the way, it’s going to take a lot longer to get comfortable with running,” he said.
The club offers all-paces-welcome group runs, speed and endurance workouts, wellness coaching, social engagements and more. In its first full year of existence, on mixed gender teams of 3-5, the club’s members won first place in the Educational Institution Teams category of the 2024 Washington, D.C., Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run, and took home both first and second place at this year's event in April.
Members of the track club have traveled the world to run races, and many have qualified for the incredibly competitive Boston Marathon. The club is supported by Professors Naomi Cahn, Thomas Frampton and Kelly Orians, and Assistant Dean for Admissions Natalie Blazer ’08.
The first year of the club’s establishment felt like a “starter phase,” Ellis said, in which its seven-person leadership team tested out what did and didn’t work for its members.
Ellis credits Delaney Sniffen ’26, the club’s president, for ensuring consistency and encouraging community engagement.
The group has created a schedule for members, with three workouts held each week: an all-paces welcome run, a track workout designed to increase speed and a long run at different local trails.
“Delaney and the rest of the leadership team did a great job of creating a routine where people can kind of plug and play,” Ellis said.
Capturing the attention of first-year students, who are adapting to a new environment and heavy workload, was important to growing membership, he said.
“If you don’t build healthy habits with 1Ls in the fall, you lose them in the spring,” he explained. “As law students, we’re going into these very high-stress careers. You have to create positive communities for people so that when they’re faced with stress, they fall back on healthy habits.”
To encourage the establishment of those habits, the club has adopted a “show up as you are” mentality.
During the weekly all-pace runs, groups depart at every desired speed, fast or slow. There is always a leader available to head the walking group.
“Every goal that you make is personal,” Ellis said. “Everything is ‘your race, your pace.’ I would much rather have someone come out and walk every day, and then continue that for the rest of their life, than run really fast and stop being active once they start their career. It’s not about flexing speed muscles; it’s about flexing consistency and showing-up-for-yourself muscles.”
Sniffen said consistent exercise has made her a better student by sharpening her focus, clearing her mind and providing a helpful boost of confidence.
“Training provides an outlet where you can feel accomplished and get feedback every time you do it,” she said. “The only real checkpoint in law school is finals, so it’s refreshing to see tangible progress in another area of your life.”
Olivia Demetriades ’26, the club’s vice president, said running can even be a studying hack.
“Sometimes, taking a break from that confusing administrative law case I was reading to go on a run makes everything ‘click’ when I sit down to do work again,” she said.
Ellis appreciates the social aspect of group running in addition to its physical benefits.
“When you’re a busy law student, you might not have time to socialize every day, but if your daily exercise includes socializing, it’s going to carry you that much farther,” Ellis said.
Winning titles at the Cherry Blossom race has been an added bonus.
More than 15 students traveled to compete in the race, which is “one of the most famous and biggest 10-miler in the country,” Ellis said. “This year, about 30 different U.S. senators sent teams where their staff members competed against each other.”
In the future, Sniffen aims to bring bigger groups to races and hold more carb-loading dinners.
“My goal is to build a club that feels like a team,” she said.
Founded in 1819, the University of Virginia School of Law is the second-oldest continuously operating law school in the nation. Consistently ranked among the top law schools, Virginia is a world-renowned training ground for distinguished lawyers and public servants, instilling in them a commitment to leadership, integrity and community service.
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