Come June and wedding season, love is in the air…even if the air smells a little like perspiration.
Turns out lots of fitness types are finding their soul mates during a sweat session, and they’re tying their running shoes and the knot. So why is the gym the new OK Cupid?
It’s not just about glistening muscles and very flattering yoga pants. “I don’t think I would have met him if not for that class,” says New Yorker Jill Cromwell-Wang, 32, who meet her husband Alex at Velocity Sports Performance in Midtown, where they’d both been fans of the personal-training-style sessions.
And as more people fall in love with their workout, it’s become increasingly common to meet other class-goers who get their heart rate up, too. Here are five couples with a very sweaty courtship. —Molly Gallagher
(Photo: Alex Wang and Jill Cromwell-Wang by Lindsay Madden)
Robert, 30, and Erica Reese, 36
Run clubs are known for bringing people together, and in this case New York Road Runners introduced two runners who recently walked down the aisle. Erica and Robert Reese met in 2012 at the NYRR Fifth Avenue Mile. At the time, Robert was working in Pennsylvania and Erica was living in New York City.
“For our first date, Robert said that he would be in town for a race, so that he had an excuse to see me. He then had to sign up for the race when I said yes to his date,” says Erica.
They’ve kept up their running tradition. In January, just a few days before their wedding, the couple ran in the Maui Oceanfront races. Robert did the marathon and Erica ran the 5K. The perfect way to burn off the pre-wedding jitters?
(Photo: Erica and Robert Reese)
Luke, 30, and Abi Reiland, 31
This CrossFit-happy couple met in a box…and now they own one together. “In less than two years, Luke and I met, got pregnant, started a business, built a house, had a wedding, had a baby, organized a great CrossFit competition, and more,” says Abi. We don’t even think people in New York City can move that fast.
The very activity that brought us together is now a huge foundation of our everyday lives, and one of the things we’re both most passionate about,” Abi says. They’re now happily training and coaching at their box, CrossFit 8035, in Des Moines, Iowa. (Proof that heavy lifting is romantic!)
(Photo: Abi Reiland)
Melissa, 33, and Andrew, 35*
Three years ago, Melissa and Andrew spotted each other in original 72nd Street SoulCycle studio, in the narrow hallway by the lockers. When Andrew finally mustered up the courage to ask Melissa out on a date, it was a 45-minute ride (yep, you guessed it!). Their first instructor, Laurie Cole, also attended the duo’s soulful wedding. “In my heart I believe that SoulCycle brought us together,” says Melissa, who also works at Soul’s corporate offices. They still ride together, and sometimes at the studio where they first met. “One of our relationship requirements is that we must be close to a studio,” jokes Andrew.
*The couple asked to only be identified by their first names
(Photo: SoulCycle)
Christa Guidi, 35, and Adler Poblete, 35
Christa Guidi and Adler Poblete got engaged right after we ran a story about meeting your mate at CrossFit, featuring the two. The duo used to run into each other on the weekends at CrossFit 215, in Philadelphia, where they currently live. Now, they set the morning alarm for dawn and go to the 6 a.m. WOD together. “It wouldn’t be so fun to get out of bed at 5 a.m. if he wasn’t going with me,” says Guidi. The soon-to-be husband and wife are tying the knot in September. “We have a Crossfit table at the wedding,” Guidi says, in all seriousness.
(Photo: Christa Guidi)
Jill Cromwell-Wang, 32, and Alex Wang, 28
“A lot of my friends always said you’re totally going to meet someone at a fitness class or running,” says Jill Cromwell-Wang, “And Alex would joke with his friends and say ‘I’ll probably just marry someone that comes into class.’”
So, maybe it’s not a surprise that the twosome met at Velocity Sports Performance in New York City. The fitness junkies and newlyweds saw each other in class two mornings a week, but it was a year before they went on their first date. Turns out you can still be shy even when you’re sweating like a beast next to someone. “I don’t think I would have met him if not for that class,” Cromwell-Wang says.
(Photo: Lindsay Madden)
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