Billy Pitman, a relative newcomer to online dating, posted a picture of himself on his Hinge profile in 2017 that showed him running the most recent Boston Marathon. This caught the attention of Jessica Jeffrey, who is also a runner.
The two didn’t spend much time chatting online before agreeing to meet at a place on Boylston Street in Boston, near where Ms. Jeffrey lived. It was the just after the Fourth of July.
“We got drinks, Samuel Adams Summer Ale,” Ms. Jeffrey said. “We talked for I want to say about three hours.”
Ms. Jeffrey, 34, is a litigation associate in the Boston office of the law firm Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough. She graduated summa cum laude from Boston University and received a law degree, also summa cum laude, from Suffolk University in Boston.
Mr. Pitman, 31, is the chief of staff at the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles in Quincy, Mass. He graduated cum laude from Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, N.C.
“She walked up and she was stunning and beautiful and fun to talk to,” Mr. Pitman said. “I wanted to see her again.”
Their second date followed soon after their first, and they shared a first kiss near the bar where they had first met. On their third date, at Fenway Park, they went to a Red Sox game (she’s a fan) that lasted until after 1 a.m.
“He’s very laid back and easy to be with,” she said.
As she prepared for her own Boston Marathon, in 2018, their relationship progressed apace. “That winter we trained together, it was miserable,” she said. “That was when we really fell in love. It evolved, us running together, maybe we weren’t even talking, but just being together is really what sealed the deal.”
“For me, it was just for kicks,” he said. “I enjoyed going out with her and meeting her in the morning, doing our long runs.”
After completing 16 miles on Saturday mornings, the couple fell into a routine of relaxing all day and having dinner out. Their commitment deepened.
“She’s her own person, and has her own ambitions, and keeps me on my toes,” Mr. Pitman said. “I really appreciate and respect that.”
In 2019, Mr. Pitman moved into Ms. Jeffrey’s condominium, and last January, he proposed.
On Oct. 24, the couple were married at the Wequassett Resort and Golf Club in Harwich, Mass., just a few minutes from where the bride grew up, in Brewster, on Cape Cod. Donna M. Cunio, a justice of the peace in Massachusetts, officiated, and the couple had 21 guests.
Running is still a big part of the couple’s life. He does about 28 miles a week and she does about 25, but they run at different speeds and so now start out together but soon separate — which makes the recollection of their early romance runs all the sweeter.
“Those were always fun Saturdays,” Mr. Pitman said, “no matter how grueling it sounds.”