Running for love
To celebrate Valentine’s Day, we spoke to three couples who have cemented their bond over 26.2 miles, again and again and again!
Frank and Meredith Webb
Meet Frank and Meredith Webb who live in Waxah, North Carolina in the United States of America.
They have been married for 29 years and have one son. Frank works in retail while Meredith spends her retirement taking care of their two granddaughters.
They began their running journey in 2008, around the same time. One year later Frank took part in his first Marathon; Meredith completed the same marathon (Walt Disney World in Orlando) in 2010. Fast forward 20 years and they have both run a marathon in 40 of America’s 50 states; Frank has completed a total of 76 and Meredith has 32 to her name.
As they ran across the states, they realized they’d completed three of the six Abbott World Marathon Majors so they decided they’d work to join an elite group of runners. At the 2020 Virgin Money London Marathon Frank will not only compete in the AbbottWMM Wanda Age Group World Championships, they will complete their Majors journey and claim their Six Star finishers’ medals – together.
“I feel very humbled to even get an invite [to the World Championships],” says Frank. “There are so many amazing fast runners out there who produce amazing results. I am looking forward to earning the multiple medals on the same day.
“With a good training cycle, I will strive to beat my PR of 2:56. My ‘B goal’ is to ‘BQ’ at one of the greatest marathons in the world! My concern and challenge is running the Boston Marathon six days prior to London. I will have to be smart and run a reserved Boston in order to show up to London ready to go!”
Meredith has been paced by Frank through a number of their races. She says, “We both have a strong passion for running and are very competitive. However, Frank is the one to take it to extremes. Having a common passion makes it easier for us to plan adventures and travel. We enjoy each other’s company very much and love living our lives together with so many common interests.
“Most of our friends and family think we are crazy for running so much but they are also impressed with our achievements. In fact, it has helped pull others into running. Our son recently completed his third marathon. We are happy to now share and watch his journey.”
Looking beyond London 2020, what's next for the couple from North Carolina?
“Once we complete London and earn that Six Star medal we will continue the drive for all 50 states. Only ten to go! From there, we have thought about completing the continents: we are three down and four to go. I’ve also tossed around the idea to ‘BQ’ in all 50 states. While most of the 40 we’ve done are BQs, there are some return trips needed!”
Päivi and Urpo Naumanen
In a little city called Kangasala in the middle of Finland, you’ll find Mr. and Mrs. Naumanen. Urpo (aged 71 and retired), and Päivi (ten years his junior and a health nurse in a pregnant mother’s care unit), have been married for nearly 15 years and together they are preparing to compete at the AbbottWMM Wanda Age Group World Championships in April.
Päivi explains, “I gave myself a gift of a running club membership for my 40th birthday and got stuck into marathon training straight away, completing the Stockholm Marathon in 1999. I had always enjoyed running but this club really taught me about running wisely and it made a big difference.”
For Urpo, it was a different beginning: “Päivi was my teacher,” he says.
“At first, I had to run after her because I was slow. Little by little I increased my distances and after one year I had enough courage to run a half marathon. Two years later, I completed my first full marathon in Turku. Päivi was my guide to the running world. She gave to me time to grow up as runner.”
They have gone on to run marathons across the globe including Melbourne, Honolulu, Osaka, Vienna, Ljubljana, Rome, Prague, Paris, Boston and Berlin. Päivi has run 141 marathons to date, plus seven 100km runs and one 24-hour run where he amassed 182km. London will mark the 100th marathon for Urpo.
“We mostly don’t actually run together as Urpo is so much faster,” Päivi explains.
“But we will head out for a training run at a similar time, meet back home in our sauna and talk about our running and how the session went.
"It is so important to share a big thing in your life with your partner. It is really great to plan to run new marathons together.”
Both have two older children from previous marriages who “think that we are a bit silly and mad for running so much but I think they are also a little proud of us, too,” Urpo adds.
When they are not jet-setting to run a marathon, Urpo and Päivi enjoy hiking, dancing and spending time in their summer cottage where they soak up the long nights in Finland.
Päivi says: “For us, travelling and running in the same competition is a must, so I am very happy that we both managed to qualify for the Age Group World Championships. I don’t have any goal, I just want to enjoy it."
Urpo is a little more target-orientated. “I am really hoping I can run fast enough to get a podium place for my age category,” he says. “It will be a very unique experience and we are very excited.”
As they also look to the future they have a simple goal as a couple, summed up by Päivi. “Running has given so much to us. We hope that we will be able to run as long as possible -many years and many marathons to come.”
Charlie and Paula Pearson
Charlie and Paula are Six Star finishers from Altrincham, near Manchester in England.
Married for 38 years they are proud parents and grandparents of two children and two grandchildren. A car accident suffered by Charlie and one of their daughters set the couple on their marathon-running journey.
"After a life-changing event your attitude changes towards many things,” says Paula.
“Charlie was not only conscious of certain post-accident difficulties, but there was also the wish to live a little more. There was an article about The Brain and Spine Foundation charity and they were looking to recruit runners to their fundraising London Marathon team.
“Applicants were asked to send in 100 words explaining why they would like to join. I wrote Charlie’s piece and the next thing we knew, he was in.
“Marathon running was a foreign country to us. Charlie had once run a local half marathon with some friends and that seemed pretty extreme, but a marathon? That was something else entirely.”
Watching Charlie that day in 2001 lit a fuse under Paula.
“A few times during the race I would be cheering people on and think ‘wouldn’t it be great to do that’? But I knew in my heart of hearts it was never going to happen - I had never been a runner over any distance beyond 70 yards.”
Charlie continued to rack up the London appearances, until one evening in October 2006 Paula found in her mail the kind of letter hundreds of thousands hope for each year.
“It was from the London Marathon telling me I had been successful in the ballot for 2007. It seemed like fate. I was going to be 50 that year and we were coming up to our 26th wedding anniversary.”
Together, they ran London that year. Charlie had already run New York City in 2005, where the Majors bug had bitten, and it was not long before the five Majors became six with the addition of Tokyo.
“When two places became available for Tokyo in 2014 we went for it, and after that we thought we might as well go for the others!
Paula adds: “I thought that if the Majors are Charlie’s new goal I may as well go too as there’s no way he would cough up for another return flight just for me to do it. If I’m going to do the Majors it’s got to be now!”
They also ticked off Berlin in 2014, the same year as Charlie’s 60th birthday and the following year they completed Boston and Chicago together.
“I completed my set in Chicago and Paula wrapped things up a few weeks later in New York City,” says Charlie.
“Each one is memorable: London because of the support from the crowds, New York City because of the competitiveness, Tokyo was the most efficiently organized, Boston we ran into the wind and rain for 26 miles, Berlin: the rebuilding of the city, and Chicago was comfortable, flat, the sun was shining and we enjoyed a beer at the end! The Six Star medal really brings life to what we have achieved.”
Charlie continues, “I would normally be the pacer during training but Paula would be faster in the end. I might be considered as the motivator but once you have started training, the support for each other is hugely important and that love is unbeatable.
“Since we earned our Six Star medals in 2015 we have not run another marathon together but we are keeping the door open for the future so who knows?
“As a couple I think our goals are to keep reasonably fit and healthy with exercise, diet and wellbeing as we are not getting any younger.”
Even so, what they have done as husband and wife puts them in an exclusive group, and Paula is under no illusions as to the size of their achievement. “Charlie said to me afterwards: ‘There can’t be many married couples who have done the Six Major Marathons?’ to which I responded “There’s a reason for that, dear!”
