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PrintLance Juhas & Brittany Newman
James D. DeCamp
Lance Juhas and Brittany Newman did things a bit differently on their wedding day. Avid runners, the duo exchanged vows right before starting the Columbus Marathon on Oct. 16.
Juhas and Newman met while working for Bravo/Brio Restaurant Group 11 years ago. (Juhas still works for the company and Newman is heading back to school to study nutrition.) Juhas says Newman didn’t like him for a while, but after nine years they became more than just colleagues. The pair realized their shared love of running and started to train together. “The running snowballed into going to get something to eat,” says Juhas. “Running takes a lot of time. Our schedules just matched. There’s a lot of time to talk and you get to know someone more when you run,” he adds.
Last December, Newman says she was at her computer when Juhas knelt next to her and asked her to marry him. (A funny aside: Newman had just showered and was wearing a towel on her head during the proposal.)
Juhas credits a friend for the idea of getting married before the race. After contacting the organizers, he says details immediately fell into place. A friend’s wife—an ordained minister—performed the ceremony on the stage near the starting line. Juhas says the minister even wrote their vows specific to running, asking him if he would still “have and hold” Newman even though she has qualified for the Boston Marathon and he has not.
The couple wore wedding-themed running gear. Juhas donned a shirt with a bowtie printed at the collar, while Newman sported a short veil in her hair. Juhas and Newman ran together for the first half of the race, but Newman went ahead of her new husband around mile 15 when he suffered a hamstring injury. Juhas told his wife to go ahead, which he was teased about by volunteers. “The basketball players handing out water gave me so much crap for Brittany being in front of me,” he says, laughing. Juhas did finish, however.
The newlyweds agree it’s tough to pick just a couple of favorite memories from their wedding day. Juhas loved running through Bexley and hearing supporters yell that they had seen the couple’s story featured on TV earlier that morning. “It was funny, because we’re answering questions as we’re running,” he says.
The bride and groom plan to celebrate their marriage in Paris over New Year’s and, after they return to their home in Dayton, they plan to keep running together.
