Jonathan Murphy

Jonathan Murphy of Salisbury, Maryland, is goal driven. As a local chiropractor, Dr. Murphy is busy at his practice, East Park Integrative Chiropractic, and has his sights set on running marathons around the world. Get to know him better and see what’s next on his extremely busy race calendar.

When did you start running? Did you do other sports? 
I started running 3-4 years ago. I did my first marathon at the 2022 RunSBY event planning for it to be a one and done bucket list item. I finished the marathon and thought I was done with running but continued to run what I would call a moderate amount. About 2 years ago, I made some running buddies and that is when I started to take running seriously. Aside from running, I have been an avid lifelong soccer player.

How did you progress over the years? Was your running journey a gradual buildup to marathons or did you jump right in? 
I did a very small self-led block of training for my first marathon in 2022. After that I would run a 5k here and there with minimal training until meeting my running buddies which was when I started to take running seriously. Since the summer of 2023, I have been running consistently with structured training blocks and goal marathons in mind. 

Do you follow a training plan? Any cross training? 
I try to do two training blocks per year. One in the fall/winter being less structured with workouts I enjoy and one in the spring/summer being more structured and planned by a coach. I try to incorporate two full body workouts a week. I do not typically cross train unless I am nursing an injury which is when I swim and bike (indoor).

How many miles on average do you run each week? 
I am currently averaging 70-75 miles per week. 

You’ve had stellar races this fall, running Chicago Marathon (2:46:26) and winning the Ocean City Running Festival Half (1:17:27). You qualified for Boston, correct? Is this the first time? 
Yes, Chicago and Ocean City half both went very well. I was blessed with great conditions for both races. I qualified for Boston 2026 via the 2025 London marathon. Though this is technically not my first time qualifying for Boston, it is my first time qualifying AND making the additional cutoff so I am super excited!
Note: Jonathon needed a 3:00 marathon to qualify for Boston; he ran 2:53:42 in London.
Additionally, he won the SBY Half Marathon in the spring with a 1:18:52 time.

You’re a husband and dad. How do you fit training in with a busy family life?
Family will always come first. Quinn, my daughter, is almost 4 years old and she is such a joy. I have been blessed with an amazing wife (Elisabeth) who is also passionate about fitness so we really try to make time for each other to work out throughout the day (though very challenging). Elisabeth also loves to run and travel and thus is totally cool with my destination marathons. We enjoy making vacations out of them.

I think you run with the same guys a lot. Want to give them a shout out? 
I have a lot of running friends but I have to give my main running buddy a shout out, Tyler Muse. We’ve been running together for a couple of years now. He’s a beast. He finished 91st at the 2023 Boston Marathon. Tyler always pushes me and is a large part of why I’ve made so much progress with running. 

Any goals/next races you’d like to share? 
My goal is to run all six major world marathons (technically 7 now that Sydney has been added). I’ve checked London and Chicago off the list. Next will be Tokyo in March, Boston in April and New York City in November for 2026.
Note: The World Marathon Majors are Toyko, Boston, London, Sydney, Berlin, Chicago and New York.

Tell us a little more about the Tokyo Marathon on March 1.
While I have now run a number of marathons and am on my journey to completing all of the world majors, I am most excited by my upcoming trek to Japan. I have been selected by the nonprofit CurePSP to run in the Tokyo Marathon to raise money and awareness for this amazing organization!

CurePSP is close to my family’s heart as it fights against progressive supranuclear palsy, a devastating neurological disease with which our aunt suffers daily. A generous donor has pledged a dollar-for-dollar match up to $25,000, so it’s my hope that our running community can rally around this cause with me. If you would like to support CurePSP through my marathon, check out our giving page here! 100% of donations go directly to CurePSP.

The giving link for CurePSP is https://give.curepsp.org/fundraiser/6587647?is_new=true