For The Love Of Running
The couple who runs together, stays together. Top men’s full marathon winner John Crews pictured with his bride-to-be and top Rothman 8K finisher Amy Kelly.
John Crews, 25, and Amy Kelly, 23, first met as teammates on the track and cross country teams at North Carolina State. The pair share a love for running, and today, top finishing times.
Finishing at 2:17:15, less than 30 seconds short of the men’s record, John Crews won his first Philadelphia Marathon title and third overall. The NC State mechanical engineering graduate student finished to the sound of a dozen friends and family members screaming his name as he crossed the finish line.
Included in that crowd is his biggest fan, Philadelphia native Amy Kelly, his fiancée. Kelly herself just finished her first Rothman 8K in third place with a time of 28:54, which, to put it in perspective, is an average pace of 5 minutes and 18 seconds, or a little faster than 11 miles per hour.
“Running has taught me so much about life,” Kelly noted. “I’ve learned discipline, persistence and, overall, how to be a good person.”
When I asked the to-be-married couple whether they envision their children to be runners, both answered with an enthusiastic nod. After all, Kelly’s father is also her running coach and her mother is a long distance runner.
John Crews and Amy Kelly, center, with friends and family at the Philadelphia Marathon finish line.
Back in Raleigh, Crews teaches an engineering class to undergraduates when he’s not studying. He returns to the South this week and hopes his students have followed his progress.
“I have some runners and tri-athletes in my class, so I hope they’ll be proud of me,” said Crews.
Both Crews and Kelly hope to return next year to run as husband and wife. Fittingly, their wedding party is composed of runners on both sides and a pre-nuptial run is in the works before the big day.
“I loved the course. It was a nice, fast run, and very scenic,” continued Crews. “The last mile was emotional; it’s still sinking in that I won.”