Love on the Run: A True Story of Finding Romance on the Track
Sweaty, exhausted, and maybe a little bit sore sounds like a good way to end a date, but not usually how you’d expect to start one. Unless you’re a runner.
But that’s exactly how Gabe and Shawna started their first date, sharing a pizza at Little Star, still in their running clothes.
Shawna and Gabe both signed up for the RUN365 training program in 2011. They started conversing through the program’s Facebook group, and started chatting during the group training sessions. And eventually their friendship turned into something more.
They’ve been together ever since, and are now a marathoning power couple.
Distance runner couples, as Shawna explains, work so well because each person knows how much time and commitment it takes. They can be a partner, a coach, and a cheerleader all at once.
But Gabe and Shawna attribute their relationship not just to their shared love of running, but also the support of the other members of their RUN365 group, who Gabe credits for keeping them together.
“We tried our hardest not to make it work. It was no small task dealing with our drama!”
But despite their best efforts, the running group kept encouraging the blossoming romance.
“I think they knew all along,” Gabe explained. “They figured it out before we did.”
The RUN365 group was a “pivotal part of the relationship” according to Shawna, who describes them as a “family.”
“No doubt in my mind we wouldn’t be together if it wasn’t for the group,” Gabe added.
The couple continued to train together, and both ran the 2011 San Francisco Marathon, their first marathon as a couple. They’re still together, still running, and Gabe is training for TSFM 2014.
Whether it be encouraging chemistry, or just encouraging you to keep going, RUN365 training groups offer the kind of support that can make any task (like running a marathon!) accomplishable. Gabe and Shawna signed up for training, and found more.
“We weren’t going there to meet someone, but [love] manifested itself in the most amazing way.”
RUN365 offers multiple training programs. And the 18-week program starts March 22! It’s the perfect way for you to get ready for The Biofreeze San Francisco Marathon. Sign up for RUN365 now!