Being a "running couple" means different things to different people. Denise and Marty Hovey define "Love on the Run" as they have been "running" together since their first Flying Pig Marathon. Denise has been at almost every one of Marty's 47 marathons (soon to be 48) except when she was running herself.  

Denise and Marty Hovey met at the University of Cincinnati and married in July of 1972. At that time neither of them had any interest in running. In high school, Marty joined the track team focusing on the long jump, but no distance running. Denise had never done any kind of physical activity. After buying a house and starting a family, Marty tried a few neighborhood 5Ks but didn't think about going farther than 10K. 

In 1998, Denise saw an article in the newspaper about a new marathon coming to Cincinnati, the Flying Pig Marathon. She really wanted to be a part of it, but knowing she could never run the race, she decided to volunteer and was asked to be the registrar. She suggested that Marty run the marathon, but he thought it was way beyond his abilities. After researching some training programs, Marty decided he would try the training and see how it went. At age 51, Marty ran his first marathon at the Inaugural Flying Pig Marathon. The last 6 miles were quite a struggle, and he didn't think he would ever do another marathon. 

Denise was hired full time with the Flying Pig Marathon, and her travels to other marathons gave Marty opportunities to run other races. Five months after thinking he would never run another marathon, Marty ran the Chicago Marathon hoping to do better than his first. His finish time was not much better, but he was still interested in improving.

After working with the marathon for four years, Denise decided she needed to see what this running was all about. She had been walking with a neighbor, but when her walking partner moved away, Denise decided it was a good time to start running. She asked Marty to help her, and they started with 5 minutes of walking with a 1-minute run break and gradually changed the ratio until she could run for 5 minutes with a 1-minute walk break. Marty was always training for another marathon, so they did many training runs together and started doing 5K and 10K races together.

One of their most memorable events was the St. Louis Marathon of 2004 where they ran 4-person family relay. Marty actually did the entire marathon but was joined by his son, Eric, for the 2nd leg, his daughter, Alison, for the 3rd leg, and Denise for the 4th leg across the finish line. The kids joined their parents to cross the finish line together. They say they would like to do a relay together again in the near future.

Through Denise's work with the Flying Pig Expo, she met Jan Seeley, the publisher of Marathon & Beyond. Jan encouraged Marty and Denise to attend Dick Beardsley's Marathon Running Camp, and they signed up for the September camp in 2005. Marty was running a couple of marathons a year and was looking for ways to improve his running. Even though Denise had trained to do the half marathon associated with the camp, she did not consider herself a runner. She okayed it with Jan that she could just hang out "knitting on the deck" while Marty took part in the camp activities. Five minutes after arriving at camp, Denise asked Jan if there was space for one more camper. They both attended two more camps.

In 2008, while training for the San Antonio Marathon (Denise's first marathon), Denise and Marty both signed up for the Akron half marathon as a training run. Due to knee problems, Denise had switched from running to walking. Marty decided that instead of running his own race, he would walk the half with Denise. They crossed the finish line together in just under three hours. Marty gained new respect for walkers when he experienced more soreness than from his marathon runs. Denise's knee improved, and she ran the San Antonio Marathon.  

Denise and Marty had not participated in any events beyond marathon distance until they joined a team for the 2011 Reach the Beach 200-mile relay in New Hampshire. It was the first time since the San Antonio Marathon that Denise was an active member of a running team. She was the driver for one of the vans, but that was probably more demanding than the running the others were doing. The team appreciated her organizational skills that had been developed working at the marathon. She had gathered a binder of maps and event instructions that proved invaluable during the event. The entire team had a great time together.