ASHLAND -- Celebrating an overall victory in the Summer Motion 10K has become quite the norm for Huntington runner Jason Pyles.
Yet, Saturday's win in the men's overall division -- his fourth consecutive -- took on special meaning as he shared it with wife Marian, who claimed the title in the women's overall division.
It is only fitting that the married couple would win an event together this week. They will celebrate their first wedding anniversary on Monday.
"We were married on 7/7/07, so this is all part of one big weekend," Jason Pyles said. "Birthday weekend, anniversary, and we both win. You can't beat that!"
As the duo celebrated relatively easy victories in the race, Marian Pyles said that the Summer relaxing element to an otherwise hectic week. Even though this is supposed to be a holiday week, it is anything but for the Pyles'.
Jason's birthday fell in the days before the race and with the anniversary looming on Tuesday, Marian has spent plenty of time finding the right gifts for Jason.
"Our anniversary just happens to fall in the week after his birthday, so it must be bonus time for Jason," Marian Pyles said. "He gets extra presents, but he also has the stress of buying me an anniversary present, so I'm looking forward to that."
Any 10K event is not a simple hand-in-hand stroll through the park for the married distance runners who met at Marshall University, but one wouldn't be so sure after seeing the results.
On a cool, but humid morning, Jason finished first overall with a time of 33:18, which was 3:27 better than second-place finisher Tanner Alexander of Russell, Ky.
He said that even though the temperatures were cooler than normal, the conditions were not favorable for runners in the race.
"Most people would look at the weather and say it's not bad because it's overcast, but this is by far, the worst conditions this race has had since I've been running it," Jason Pyles said. "I ran a 33:18 today, but it was more like a 31:00 effort."
Marian won the women's division in a time of 39:07 to win the women's division by 4:33 over future Marshall University runner Kylie Lemons, a 2008 graduate of Spring Valley High School.
Despite the humidity making it hard to breathe for the 136 runners in the competition, Marian Pyles said that the day was a lot of fun and even served as an anniversary present.
It helped to reunite them with the common bond that helped build their love into the strong marriage it is today.
"This is how we met -- through running -- so this is kind of fun," Marian Pyles said. "It rekindles our fondness for each other."
"Running has just made our relationship click even more," Jason Pyles said. "When you have a hobby or interest with your partner, it makes everything better."
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