Jess McComb

In the morning before the Boston Marathon, Alex Aeschliman said she felt nervous and tired. The nerves would subside, but exhaustion followed her through the course to the very end. In the weeks leading up to the race, Aeschliman battled a case of posterior tibial tendonitis and within the first three miles of the race she was hurting. Surprisingly, it wasn’t her ankle that bothered her, but her left quad:an ache in her IT band that persisted through the finish.

Over the span of the four months I spent training for my first marathon, the 2024 Eugene Marathon, I published 19 articles detailing my experience. Under the alias of “rookie runner,” marathon training became my entire identity, and I fell in love with a sport that showed very little affection in return. I crossed my first marathon finish line with four rehabbed injuries and very clear intentions set — I would not be running 26.2 miles again for a very long time.

On Thursday, April 10, Elise O’Brien, the graduate director of the HOPES Conference, stood before a dimly lit lecture hall for the event’s introductory panel. For the 30th anniversary of the event, attendees’ ages ranged broadly, including many conference alumni. Founded in 1994, HOPES began with a small group of architecture and design students inspired by a collective of law students adamantly committed to sustainable causes.