The Goalposts Moved: What the Marathon Teaches Us About the NextGen Bar Exam

At London Marathon yesterday, one of the world’s most prestigious long-distance races, Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe delivered a historic performance, becoming the first person to run an official marathon under two hours. He crossed the finish line in 1:59:30, breaking the previous world record by more than a minute.

He wasn’t alone. Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha also broke the two-hour barrier in 1:59:41, and Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo finished third in 2:00:28. All three podium finishers ran faster than the previous world record.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1voTDQQQf5g

For years, running 26.2 miles in under two hours had been viewed as out of reach in a true competition setting. It wasn’t just a number. It was a psychological ceiling. While Eliud Kipchoge had gone under two hours in a controlled, unofficial event, it had never been done in an official race until now.

That context matters. As times continued to drop, the two-hour mark remained the benchmark of what was considered impossible under standard race conditions.

Until now.

After the race, former world record holder Paula Radcliffe said:

“The goalposts have literally just moved for marathon running and where you benchmark yourself as being world-class … It is a lesson to everybody out there. We say ‘don’t go out too fast’—they went out smartly and paced it really well.”

That idea—the goalposts have moved—is exactly what’s happening right now with the bar exam.

With the transition from the Legacy Uniform Bar Examination to the NextGen Uniform Bar Examination, the benchmark for what it means to be “bar ready” is changing. The first administration of the NextGen UBE is scheduled for July 2026. That date matters because it marks a shift in how future lawyers will be assessed.

For years, bar prep has been built around memorization. More subjects. More rules. More emphasis on recall. Success often felt tied to how much law you could store and retrieve under pressure.

That’s no longer the primary benchmark.

The NextGen exam places greater emphasis on foundational lawyering skills. Instead of testing a wide range of subjects at a surface level, it narrows the scope and focuses on how well you can actually use the law. Those foundational skills include:

• Legal research

• Legal writing

• Issue spotting and analysis

• Investigation and evaluation

• Client counseling and advising

• Negotiation and dispute resolution

• Client relationship and management

This doesn’t mean doctrine disappears. You still need to know the law. But the exam is designed to test what you can do with that knowledge, not just whether you can recall it.

In other words, the goalposts have moved.

And just like in marathon running, that changes how you train.

For too long, many students have approached bar prep by trying to do everything at once. They memorize aggressively. They rush through practice questions. They focus on completion instead of understanding. They go out too fast.

That approach was never ideal. Under the NextGen framework, it’s even less effective.

Think about what Radcliffe pointed out. The runners didn’t just run fast. They ran smart. They paced themselves. They understood the demands of the race and adjusted their strategy accordingly.

That’s what bar prep should look like now.

Pacing means being intentional with your study time. It means slowing down enough to understand why an answer is correct or incorrect. It means focusing on transferable skills instead of isolated rules. It means building the ability to read, analyze, and respond under pressure across different contexts.

It also means recognizing that the exam is testing a method, not just a memory bank. Whether you’re working through a performance task or a multiple-choice question, the same core skills are in play. Your ability to apply those skills consistently is what will determine your performance.

So here’s the takeaway. If you're preparing for the NextGen UBE, don’t prepare for the bar exam based on where the goalposts used to be. Prepare based on where they are now.

At first glance, that may sound familiar. Those are many of the same things students were already expected to do for the Legacy UBE. But the difference now is not just emphasis. It is how those skills are tested, especially through Integrated Question Sets.

Integrated Question Sets require you to work through a cluster of related materials and questions tied to a single scenario. That means you are not just answering isolated multiple-choice questions. You are reading a fact pattern, analyzing documents, and then applying that information across several questions that build on each other.

Think of a single client file that includes an email chain, a short contract excerpt, and a memo. One question might test whether a statement is admissible. The next might ask you to identify a breach. Another might require you to choose the best advice to give the client. Each question depends on the same set of facts, and sometimes on your understanding from earlier in the set.

Practically, that changes how you prepare. You need to get comfortable reading carefully up front because missing a key fact early can affect multiple questions. You need to track facts and legal issues across the set instead of treating each question as standalone. You need to move efficiently between reading, analyzing, and answering without losing focus or context.

This is where the marathon analogy comes back into play. Go out too fast and miss something early, and that mistake carries forward. Just like a runner who burns too much energy in the first few miles, you will feel it later in the set when questions build on a flawed understanding.

It also means you cannot rely on recognition alone. You have to understand why an answer works in the context of the full problem. That requires more deliberate practice with longer, integrated problems rather than short, disconnected sets.

So, yes, the underlying skills may sound familiar. But the way you will be asked to use them is different. That is where students will either adjust or fall behind.

The runners in London didn’t redefine what was possible by doing what had always been done. They adjusted their approach to meet a new standard.

You should do the same.

Because when the goalposts move, the students who recognize it early and adjust their preparation accordingly are the ones who put themselves in the best position to succeed.