The True Story of #AnnaAndBen, Twitter’s Favorite NYC Marathon Couple – Runner’s World

While some participants before a race are quiet and meditative prior to the gun going off, others, like Anna Harding, love to chat with other runners to calm their own nerves.

In most cases, these conversations end as soon as Harding begins her race. But at this year’s New York City Marathon, the London native made a long-lasting companion.

Harding, 33, first met Ben Salus, 26, at the 42nd and Times Square subway stop in the early hours of Sunday, November 3. It was Harding’s first time ever visiting the Big Apple and running the NYC Marathon, her seventh 26.2-miler to date. After checking to make sure she was on the right train, she sat down with a group of runners that included Salus.

“We started chatting about the race,” Harding told Runner’s World. “Two of them had done marathons before, but it was Ben and another guy’s first-ever marathon. We were all talking about our own marathon experiences and exchanging tips, like ‘Don’t start out too fast.’”

Salus, who lives in New York City and works as an actor, had been riding the train downtown for about 20 minutes when Harding boarded. Back in January, Salus decided to register for the NYC Marathon on a whim, as the race had always been on his bucket list. A few weeks later, he was notified that he had a 2019 bib.

“I remember thinking, ‘Oh my God, I have to run a marathon now,’” Salus said. “I ran high school cross country and did a half marathon in Philadelphia three years ago, but since then, I’ve mainly been doing weight training. So training for a marathon was an abrupt transition.”

After the group exited the subway to head toward the Staten Island Ferry—which would then take them to a shuttle traveling to the start line—Harding and Salus stuck together. On the ferry, they exchanged social media handles, compared running playlists, and swapped stories about their home cities. Once at the start village, they headed toward their respective waves.

“Ben was in the green start and I was in orange, so we said our goodbyes, had a hug, and went our separate ways,” Harding said. “I was told New Yorkers are mostly friendly—and I know that runners are—and Ben totally was. It was lovely to have someone to chat to.”

“I told her, ‘Have a nice life,’ because I knew there was no way I would ever see her again,” Salus said.

Once the race began, the two runners set off chasing their respective goals. Salus hoped to finish sub-4:30 for his first 26.2. Harding—who raced the Amsterdam Marathon just two weeks prior—was aiming to soak up the race experience and record it for The Running Channel, a running-focused YouTube site, while raising money for Children With Cancer U.K., a nonprofit that helps support children going through cancer treatment.

“When I hit the Queensboro Bridge at mile 15, I was thinking about the charity I was running for,” Harding said. “Then up ahead of me I saw a guy who looked like he could be Ben. I ran up alongside this guy, and sure enough, it was Ben!”

“I heard someone shouting ‘Ben’ over my earphones, and I looked back, and Anna’s there,” Salus said. “It was wild. We laughed and took a few selfies, then we separated. Again, I told her ‘Have a nice life,’ because really, what were the odds we’d meet again?”

Over the rest of the course, the runners pushed through their respective walls—for Harding, it was the last 10K of the race, while Salus suffered during miles 19 through 23—and finally arrived in Central Park. Harding finished in 4:20:56, while Salus crossed the line in 4:27:51. After Salus finished, he heard a familiar voice.

“I heard someone call ‘Ben,’ and crazy enough, it was Anna,” Salus said.

“He came over and we hugged. We couldn’t believe it had happened again,” Harding said. “I joked that I’d see him later, because we’d probably end up bumping into each other at the bar he was going to be celebrating in.”

As predicted, later that night, Harding accepted Salus’s invitation to come celebrate their finish with his friends in Harlem.

“We stayed up late talking about running and why someone would choose to run a marathon,” Salus said. “I think everyone who runs one has something to prove. We both proved something out there, and we were proud of ourselves.”

The next day, Harding flew back to London, but the two have kept in touch since. “We’re exchanging books with each other,” Salus said. Harding posted the story of their meetings during NYC on Twitter, and the thread raked in hundreds of likes and retweets.

“We’ve been joking about how mad it is that #AnnaAndBen became a thing on Twitter,” Harding said. “It’d be nice to think that I’ve made a friend in Ben.”

While the Twitter running community is trying to follow the connection like it’s an episode of The Bachelor, for now, Harding and Salus are adamant that they are happy to have a long-distance relationship as friends.

“People have been asking me about how my long-distance relationship is going,” Salus said. “Anna is a great pen pal. I’d love to run the London Marathon someday, and if I do, I hope I have a couch to stay on in East London.”

Digital Editor Hailey first got hooked on running news as an intern with Running Times, and now she reports on elite runners and cyclists, feel-good stories, and training pieces for Runner’s World and Bicycling magazines.