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Boston marathon runner tries to track down man she kissed during the run, hears from his wife

Barbara Tatge, left, kisses an unknown spectator as she ran in the Boston Marathon. It's a tradition for male runners to kiss the women attending Wellesley College as they line the marathon route. Photo: Paige Tatge via AP

At least the wife has a sense of humour.

Before running her first marathon last month, Barbara Tatge, a 55-year-old single mom from Tennessee, learned of a local custom: female race spectators would kiss Boston Marathon participants as they made their way through Wellesley, Massachusetts.

Tatge’s daughter, Paige, dared her to reverse the tradition and kiss a male spectator.

And she did.

“Before I could even think about what I was doing, my feet were making my way towards this tall, good-looking man,” Tatge told TODAY.com last week. "He was a great sport. There was no discussion about whether it would be a kiss on the lips or the cheek. It just happened to be a kiss on the lips.”

And then she continued the race, not knowing the identity of the man she just kissed.

Shortly after the race, Tatge asked for help over social media in tracking down the man who made her day.

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She got a response — from his wife.

Fortunately, she wasn’t upset about the kiss, or the headlines it generated.

“We all thought this story was hilarious because it is just like my husband to do that,” the man’s wife wrote in her letter, which was published in part in the Wellesley Townsman. “It was one of many memorable stories from a great weekend in Boston.”

“When this story aired on the news we were pretty surprised,” the wife continued. “For me, I’m not mad. Believe me, our friends have gotten a lot of mileage out of this story and I have thoroughly enjoyed watching them give my husband grief!“

The woman concluded:

“While this may not be the ending that you had hoped for, that spontaneous, silly moment in Wellesley captured the fun, energy and spirit of the Boston Marathon. I greatly admire your spunk and courage and wish you many happy races in the future. Congratulations on your Boston finish!”

She and her husband have chosen to remain anonymous.

Tatge wrote back to the wife, thanking her for her graciousness and for being “a great sport” — and apologizing for any embarrassment the kiss may have caused.

"The letter was so kind and good-hearted,” she said. “She’s a great sport, and he’s fortunate to be married to someone like her.”

Even though all ended well, Tatge has learned her lesson — and is done with dares.

“I’ve been surprised and overwhelmed with all the attention this simple story has gotten and would like it all to go away quietly, I really would,” Tatge added. “In all sincerity, I apologize if the media firestorm has caused him any discomfort.”

Next time, “I won’t be kissing random strangers along the route,” she vowed.