Love on the Loop
If you’ve been a member of PPTC for at least a year, then you know that it has become a bit of a tradition for our blog to shine the spotlight on some of our couples. These couples are made up of PPTC members. Over the years ( 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, and 2020) we’ve had couples who met through the club or joined the club together after already being established couples and this year is no different. No matter how they met, their love is evident. Read on to find out more about our featured couples.
Nicole Thur-Green and Michael Green
Maybe you met Nicole (she/her) and Mike (he/him) at a group run or like me met them at the monthly general membership meeting. Read on to learn more about them.
When did you meet? How did you meet?
We met at a work-related holiday party in 2013. It was raining that night, so Mike lent me his umbrella after walking me to the train. The next week, I gave him his umbrella back and asked him if he wanted to get lunch.
Were each of you runners before you met?
When we met, Mike had just finished his first half marathon, and I had just taken up running as a hobby. Right after we started dating, in December 2013, he suggested running a race together the following spring (the Run as One 4-mile), which was my first race. In 2015, he ran the NYC marathon for the first time, and I ran it in 2016.
Do you run together?
We run at different paces and usually each do our own thing, but we’ll run together on trips, and Mike has paced me in a few races. We’re always there to cheer each other on at races too!
What do you admire most about your partner’s running?
Nicole: Mike is very disciplined and never backs away from hard training. I’ve seen his running improve so much over the years as a result. He always has big goals, and he gives it 100%.
Michael: I admire the amount of weekly mileage Nicole puts in, sometimes more than 70 miles per week, all while handling a full-time job. It is very impressive and not something I could do consistently.
What is something unexpected about your partner that you could share with us?
Nicole: Mike is currently trying to watch all 1,155 episodes of One Piece. He also has a turtle, his name is Gary.
Michael: Nicole is able to achieve her high mileage on a totally plant-based diet. Knowing the amount of fuel and nutrition needed for this type of mileage makes us get creative with our cooking!
How does running affect your relationship with one another?
We’re both very supportive of each other’s running goals. Running has its own language, and it’s great to be with someone who also understands it. We’ve traveled a lot for races, from Big Sur to London and everything in between, and having someone by your side to experience it with makes it all so much better.
Has being a PPTC member contributed to your relationship?
Yes! We’re both born and raised in NYC, but we were new to the neighborhood when we joined PPTC. It was right after COVID, and I think we were both looking to get out more and be more social. It’s also just very fun to participate in PPTC events and share that.
What advice do you have for new couples?
New couples should be open to new experiences and trying the things their partner likes, even if it’s something they have never considered trying in the past. Be curious and care about each other’s interests.
What advice do you have for any of our single members looking for that special “running mate?”
Get out there and interact in social settings as much as possible, and look for someone who’s excited about your goals. Also, when you meet someone, commit to something in the future together—sign up for a race! Having a race on the calendar to run together in April when we first met in December made things feel serious and gave us something to look forward to.
Natasha Goss and Scott Rohrer
Natasha (she/her) is not only PPTC’s current Secretary, but she also is a lawyer at the EPA who works on hazardous waste, lead paint, clean water, and clean air enforcement. Scott (he/him) is a software engineer at Biograph, a preventative health startup. And spoiler alert, they met through PPTC!
When did you meet? How did you meet?
Scott: We met in PPTC! We were both pretty new to the club, and I didn't know too many people yet, but Natasha stood out to me when I first saw her at GAP as I was scanning the crowd. We got to talking and I was immediately impressed by Natasha's warmth and kindness, her very good vocabulary, and the passion she brings to everything, from running, to her work, to her volunteering at a soup kitchen. One day, feeling unusually spontaneous, I went to a Brooklyn Contra dance that had been shared on the PPTC email list. I was very happy when I saw Natasha show up, single! After a few more months of slowly getting to know each other at PPTC, I asked her out, and the rest was history!
Natasha: We kept being drawn to each other during group runs, especially on Wednesday nights, and getting the chance to talk always warmed my heart and brought a smile to my face. I particularly remember one Friday night as we watched the fireworks over Coney Island and Scott told me about a trip he’d taken to Japan, and one evening around Thanksgiving 2024 at a local bar when everyone else in the room just faded away and I only had eyes for him. I was thrilled when Scott asked me out in the depths of winter last year!
Were each of you runners before you met?
Scott: Yes - I started in 2020, better late than never. I moved to Brooklyn in 2021 and joined PPTC in 2024, looking to finally meet some of the other people who share my routine of running the loop.
Natasha: Yes, off and on, but I’d been a solo runner until November 2023, when I joined PPTC. I was training for a half marathon and wanted a “fun yet focused” group to spend the miles with.
Do you run together?
Scott: Yes! Though Natasha consistently runs about twice the weekly miles I do. (I'm running my first marathon this year - NYC - and she's running her first 100-miler this summer.)
Natasha: Absolutely! We run together a few times a week, and wave to each other in the park when we’re training with different groups.
What do you admire most about your partner’s running?
Scott: I admire how Natasha can just keep going and going and going, and how much joy it consistently brings her. Seeing her in action as I ran with her for the last 4 loops of Endurance Fest (she did the 50-miler) was breathtaking, figuratively and literally.
Natasha: It amazes me to this day that Scott runs without a watch! He is so mindful about how and whether to use the various tracking data that’s crept into our lives, and sets goals and goes for them based on that deep awareness. (And yes, we are neck and neck pace-wise while he runs half my mileage.)
What is something unexpected about your partner that you could share with us?
Scott: We're weird in a lot of the same ways - for starters we're both left handed, but we also both like extremely spicy food, as well as bands like the Velvet Underground, Stereolab, and Geese, and we decided to see The Brutalist (probably the longest movie I've ever seen) on our fourth date. Discovering Natasha's eclectic tastes and interests has been a never-ending gift.
Natasha: Scott is kind, thoughtful, and has gone the extra mile for me so many times. We were on vacation in Montreal when our return flight got cancelled, and without a second thought, he got on an overnight bus with me so I could make a morning meeting and feed the cats. Plus, he’s got great taste in music, and the breadth and depth of his knowledge astonishes me. He loves language, history, and learning about the world, and is always up for seeing a show or museum exhibit.
How does running affect your relationship with one another?
Natasha: Running and training together makes me happy! It also gives us another common set of interests and goals, and provides a strong reason for me to mindfully balance work, fitness, sleep, and social and relationship time in a way that I hope makes me a better partner.
Scott: Our lives kind of revolve around running. It's always a staple of our daily and weekly routines, and many of our longer-term goals are centered around races. Running with PPTC is how we find community when we're at home in Brooklyn, and running is an excuse to be alone together during holidays.
Has being a PPTC member contributed to your relationship?
It's been fundamental, because we met at PPTC! We also met some very good mutual friends through the club, and that’s contributed immensely to our sense of community and social life in Brooklyn! We also enjoy going to events together.
What advice do you have for new couples?
No advice is one size fits all, but it’s been so important to have time each week when we can be fully present and have low-key unscheduled fun. We also enjoy having special events on the calendar that we can eagerly anticipate together, and to have a milestone race, concert, or vacation that’s fun for us both.
What advice do you have for any of our single members looking for that special “running mate?”
Go out and do things! If you’re not sure whether to show up at a run or other event, the answer is yes, you should. Have experiences for their own sake, build an interesting life for yourself, and pay attention to what’s interesting about the world and people around you. We are so fortunate to have the NYC running community around us, and PPTC is a particularly rich and rewarding part of that community.
Gemini Nazareno and Simon F.
Gemini (he/him) and Simon(he/him) are both attorneys working in the public sector and are PPTC members — what else should you know about them? Read on.
When did you meet? How did you meet?
We met at our first jobs out of law school.
Were each of you runners before you met?
We both ran track in high school, but fell off sometime after graduating. Gemini picked back up in 2018, when he ran the NYC Marathon for the first time and he’s been hooked ever since. Simon started running again, mainly because of Gemini. But, when the opportunity came to run the Tokyo Marathon in 2025, he knew he couldn’t pass up on a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Do you run together?
We run together on our easy days or when we sleep in and don’t make it to a PPTC run. Gemini tends to run earlier in the morning and usually makes PPTC’s weekday runs. Simon sticks to the weekend morning runs and the occasional weeknight fun runs.
What do you admire most about your partner’s running?
Gemini: I like that Simon doesn’t ever complain about running and puts up with me planning (multiple) vacations around running.
Simon: I like that Gemini has a good reason to leave the apartment
What is something unexpected about your partner that you could share with us?
Simon: Gemini is a meticulous planner and makes very detailed itineraries. He is great at making the most out of a marathon weekend. There isn’t a marathon pop-up or activation you won’t find him at, especially if race merch is involved.
Gemini: Simon has a knack for taking the best race pics. He can find anyone on a race course. I know he treats it like the Amazing Race. And, he enjoys a good challenge.
How does running affect your relationship with one another?
Running has allowed us to spend time together, even if one or both of us are too out of breath to speak.
Has being a PPTC member contributed to your relationship?
We don’t always run the same pace, so PPTC has helped us train for our races, at our own speeds.
What advice do you have for new couples?
You don’t have to do everything at the same pace. The healthiest couples give each other room to be individuals, while still showing up as a team. Celebrate effort, not just PRs. Be each others’ biggest cheerleader.
What advice do you have for any of our single members looking for that special “running mate?”
Be yourself. Embrace your passions, hobbies, and quirks. Let connections grow organically. Nothing bonds people faster than shared suffering halfway through a long run.
Updates on some of our past valentines day couples
MOTOKO YURI & YUSHIRO OKAMOTO
Although getting out on a run-date has been difficult since for Motoko (she/her) and Yushiro (her/him) since having a child, they’ve managed to go on a run trip to Spain in October to run the San Sebastian Half Marathon together.
Their daughter Kate has been growing her passion with running, participating in three NYRR races in 2025 — she may be a future PPTC Runner of the Year.
LAURA & NATE GRAY
When asked for an update, Nate (he/him) said, “[W]e're still married, still in love (marrying Laura [she/her] is the best thing I have ever done), and still running!” Not only are Laura and Nate still married and still in love, but they both ran the 2025 New York City Marathon for PRs for both of them.
CRYSTAL CUN AND MAREK STĘPNIOWSKI
Crystal (she/her) and Marek (he/him) signed some papers and got married last June, but more importantly, they held a Trot to the Knot 5K that weekend. It was wonderful to see their running and non-running families all in one place, and they’re truly grateful for the role PPTC has played in their lives!
Interviews by: Linda S. Chan (she/her)
Produced by: Linda S. Chan
Photos courtesy of the respective couples
PPTC is a diverse and supportive team. We want to celebrate the diversity of our club and membership. We welcome and encourage everyone to share their stories with us.