Five years ago, Alex Bruns, a 2008 Fenwick High School graduate and an accomplished long distance runner, won the Mothers Day 5K Run/ Walk to benefit Hospice Care of Middletown at Woodside Cemetery.
Then he waited at the finish line until Kenzie arrived. He dropped to one knee and proposed. She may have been a little winded but she said “yes.”
On March 31, 2018, they got married at Smith Park in Middletown, and after exchanging vows, invited the wedding party ad guests to jog around the park with them. The guys in the wedding wore T-shirts designed like tuxedos and some wore running shorts.
Kenzie, a 2012 Madison High School graduate, wore a white tennis outfit.
On Sunday, the Middletown couple will return to Woodside for the 12th annual Mother’s Day Hospice 5K Run/Walk. They own and operate a running company, Brunning Endurance, which hospice hired to direct the race.
“We just love that race,” said Kenzie, 27, who works for Downtown Middletown Inc. “It has come full circle for us.”
The historic cemetery is a special place for them because Alex’s mother, Therese Bruns, is buried there. She died of brain cancer in 2016 and she and the family received support from hospice. She was 57.
The 5K is run over a flat course on paved trails through the cemetery and arboretum. The runners and race walkers are timed and a shorter course is available for recreational walkers who aren’t timed.
Alex, 31, an eighth-grade math teacher in Springboro, met Kenzie several years ago at the Middletown Area YMCA. They both were training for the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati.
Running in the marathon was on her “bucket list,” she said.
She never realized it would lead to marriage and a running business.
HOW TO GO
WHAT: 12th annual Mothers Day 5K Run/ Walk to benefit Hospice Care of Middletown
WHEN: Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. Sunday. Race starts at 8:30 a.m.
WHERE: Woodside Cemetery and Arboretum, 1401 Woodside Blvd, Participants should park across the street at Rosa Parks Elementary School and Barnitz Stadium.
HOW MUCH: $20 day of the race
INFORMATION: There is a competitive run and walk and a “fun” walk that isn’t timed. Call 513-424-2273.
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