COLUMBIA, S.C. — Former South Carolina quarterback/receiver Jay Urich is going the extra mile. Actually, he’s running 26.2 miles in the New York City Marathon on November 1 while raising money for Empower, a Boston non-profit that mentors children and young adults who have lost a parent.
“I’ve never been to New York, so I’m really excited about that,” said Urich, who played for the Gamecocks from 2017 through 2020, earning a bachelor’s degree in public health and later a master’s in higher education. “I’m very passionate about a lot of things, including my non-profit (Original Design) and my for-profit organization, Banner Player Development.”
Before training for his first marathon about a year and a half ago, Urich had never run in a distance event.
“I never ran in a 5K or anything,” Urich said. “In high school, I ran track but that was the 400 meters and the 4 x 100 meters. When I was at Carolina, we did sprints and focused on speed and five second bursts. My former roommate is an ultra-marathoner who was running 100-mile races. After some smaller runs with him, he inspired me to try long distance running.
“It’s a big shift for the body. It’s a new challenge for me, which is something I really love. I enjoy having new goals and to be able to use what I learned at Carolina in playing quarterback and receiver to have a new challenge to look forward to.”
Urich ran his first marathon last December in Kiawah, South Carolina in three hours and 32 minutes. Then he decided the New York City Marathon would be his next challenge.
“You have to have a really good time to qualify for that, and my time isn’t there yet, but you can also do it if you raise money for a charity that is approved by them to have access to run in the event,” said Urich.