It was the return of Sloppy Moose running club after a long and restless Covid hiatus. Greg had been running with the club since 2018 and Sara was a newbie, never having run with the club but having been illegally signing in for a while. Greg was towards the front of the pack during the run, Sara, heavily sandbagging closely behind, some might say chasing Greg. Introductions were had but first conversations were saved for the following week. While rehydrating after the next weeks run in a location that now lives in infamy (the proposal spot), Greg waited patiently as Sara exchanged pleasantries with other runners to land his killer conversation starter by inquiring what her companys tech stack was like (classic pickup line), appealing to her intellect instead of the easy way out of complimenting her beauty. As luck would have it, Sara had just returned from completing a Spartan Race in Seattle the weekend prior, unbeknownst to Greg, and indicated that she needed to quickly catch up with another fellow runner. Greg tagged along and quickly realized the connection; being a seasoned Spartan racer himself and having long discussed similar exploits with this person in the past. Sara let on that she had been considering doing the upcoming Tahoe Beast race to which Greg piled on heavy encouragement, he was already committed to doing the race. Sara was convinced and signed up for the race, snagging Gregs phone number under the guise of seeking race buddies. From here, conversation was easy this week and the next. As race day approached, Sara deployed carbohydrate-laced tactics, inviting Greg to meet up with her for pizza at her Grandfathers secret Tahoe cabin. Sara landed an early starting time for the race, 30 minutes before Gregs start time, leaving Greg running up and down the mountains of past Olympic glory, shouting after anyone who would listen that he was chasing a girl. After completing her race, Sara rushed to catch the finish of Gregs fully prepared to lay on the flirting for the final mile. Post race, Greg waited for the photographer to take the customary victory photo, only to have Sara pop in for a quick surprise “couples” photo after his solo flex. As all racers know, food and beer following is a recharging requirement. Greg and Sara found an Irish Pub to fulfill the prescription and embarked on what both describe as an “Is this a date, I hope this is a date” date. After returning home, conversation picked up and Greg fixed the uncertainty about the date situation by making sure that Sara knew it was a date when he took her to the most appropriate place he could think of, Beast and Bounty. From here, dating, cohabitating and adventuring together, with 18 Spartan races and counting, has led us to this point in solidifying the next chapter of our love story.