A professional matchmaker got Vernon Pumm and Barbara Cook together in 1994. He was an accountant for what then was Gundaker Realty in St. Louis County; she was a physical education instructor in Waltonville, Ill., near Mount Vernon.

A telephone romance grew. They fell in love. But more than that, they liked each other. They were married on Valentine's Day in 1998.

"We had a lot in common," Vernon said as he sat in one of the matching easy chairs in their living room. One of their common interests was fitness.

"I'd always stayed in good condition," Barbara said.

Vernon had started running in 1985 when his blood pressure started rising at the same rate as his weight. "Of all the things (people) suggested, running was the easiest," he said.

After a couple of years of dropping weight and improving health, he was hooked on running. By 1993 he was entering a minimum of 100 competitive races a year — mostly 5K, 10K and an occasional half-marathon — on average, two races each weekend.

Barbara began to accompany him on his races. "I got tired of sitting in the car waiting for him," she smiled. "I was getting bored."

They ran their first race together in 1994.

Vernon learned quickly that they wouldn't be running shoulder to shoulder. They became the bookends of most races, her finishing at the head of the pack, him finishing at the end.

"She's competitive," he said. "I was running for my health; she was finishing in the top three in her age group all the time.

"She turned out to be a natural runner. I was the guy running with the police car and the whirling lights behind me at the end of the pack."

"Finishing is winning," Barbara smiled and patted his leg.

In 1999, about a year after their marriage, both retired from their jobs and took the new free time to expand the geography of their competitive running. They spent the winter at their home in Phoenix and summers in St. Louis.

They're members of the St. Louis Track Club and the Southern Arizona Roadrunners. They have matching roadrunner tattoos on their ankles.

They were able to run two races a week every year, one time hitting more than 130 in one year.

One result is their home is full of medals and trophies, so many they've overflowed from an awards display in the living room into the basement.

Still, their biggest kick, they said, is the traveling. "We race all across the Midwest," he said.

"We get to see so many places and meet so many interesting people," she said.

That means a lot of visits to state fairs. Their farthest-away race has been in San Diego; none outside of American borders.

Since 1994, they've missed achieving 100 races each in a year together only twice. The first was in 1999 when Vernon was diagnosed with prostate cancer and took time off for surgery. The other year was in 2004 when Barbara had hip replacement surgery.

Her surgery was in September. She ran a race the day before the surgery. She was back on the track in November.

They both say cross training helps them avoid injury.

They work out several times a week at various YMCA branches. "We move around and that keeps it interesting," Vernon said.

They do a lot of step training and weight training.

Also, Vernon said, they have adjusted their pace as they've gotten older. Their last marathon was in 2004. "We don't do marathons and not as many half-marathons any more," he said. Primarily they run 5K and 10K events.

They like all the time together.

"I guess I see her as my best friend," Vernon said.

"He's my best friend," Barbara said.

Do you know a "how I did it?"

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Jackie Hutcherson, STL Health Editor

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

900 North Tucker Boulevard

St. Louis, Mo. 63101-1099

E-mail • jhutcherson@ post-dispatch.com