And then he kissed her.
If you’ve never run in the Boston Marathon or become a casual fan of the world’s oldest annual 26.2-mile race, you may not know of the tradition of kissing a Wellesley College girl about halfway through the race.
“They actually hold up signs that say, ‘Kiss Me,'” said 2004 Notre Dame High School graduate Rob Carden, who learned of the tradition two years ago during his first slog through Beantown.
“I tried to kiss a girl last year while I was running but overshot her. This year I had two goals in mind. I wanted to run all the way up Heartbreak Hill. And I was determined to kiss a Wellesley girl.”
The 23-year-old Carden is determined in many areas. Last week’s Boston Marathon fell nine days before the start of his second-year law school final exams at the University of Memphis.