Benefield: Santa Rosa Marathon keeps Flins' marriage strong

Running has played an integral part in Elaine and Rich Flin’s relationship.

Except for that first kiss. That had nothing to do with running and everything to do with mistletoe.

But this isn’t about mistletoe, this is about running.

The Flins, who will travel from their home in Chino for the Santa Rosa Half Marathon on Aug. 23, started their courtship in sneakers. Rich had recently quit smoking and Elaine was training for her first marathon, a fundraising event in London. Rich wanted to spend time with her, so he started running, too. He got in such good shape that when a member of Elaine’s group dropped out and didn’t travel to London, Rich pinned the guy’s number to his jersey and ran the race with her.

Running even played a part in Rich’s proposal. It was just before that London Marathon, back in April of 1999, that he popped the question to Elaine on the shores of Serpentine lake, on the eve of that first marathon together.

As Rich recalls it, the proposal brought a tear to her eye.

“Yes,” she said. “And now can we go eat?”

After all, runners have to carbo load.

Since then, Elaine, 55, and Rich, 57, figure they have run 30 races together, most of them half marathons. They travel up and down California, sometimes venturing out of state, but there is one race they won’t miss: the Santa Rosa Half Marathon. It always falls near their Aug. 26 wedding anniversary. For six consecutive years, running together in Santa Rosa is how they celebrate.

Rich runs, Elaine speed walks. She’s not afraid to stop and chat - she has that kind of personality, Rich said. But celebrating their marriage is also about celebrating running - together and apart (he listens to music, she listens to an audio book) - and enjoying Wine Country.

“It’s a special thing,” Elaine.

And celebrate they do. I get the feeling this is not a button-downed pair.

“Every year we have gone a little crazier,” Elaine said. “We wear the Mickey Mouse ears and our bride and groom jerseys.”

Elaine also runs with a veil.

I have to ask.

Huh?

Rich says that’s just the way his wife of nearly 15 years is.

When the London Marathon group proposed to wear Mickey Mouse ears while they ran to draw attention to their cause of fighting diabetes, Elaine was all over it.

“She wanted to wear them but everyone else chickened out,” Rich said. “We said ‘Screw it, we are going to wear it.’?”

“Elaine’s personality is so outstanding and so cool,” he said.

So the Flins - it’ll be hard to miss them - will run the Santa Rosa course from downtown and out on the Santa Rosa Creek Trail with Mickey Mouse ears, bride and groom jerseys and, yes, a veil.

No wonder Elaine likes to stop and chat.

“I love this event,” she said. “It’s a comfortable, homegrown neighbor kind of thing but it’s really well done.”

“We love Santa Rosa,” she said. “We joked about moving up there.”

The full marathon is a certified qualifying race for Boston. It’s also an official qualifier for the Olympic trials.

That’s cool to Elaine and Rich Flin, but it’s not why they come.

They come because it’s their anniversary, because they like to run and because they like to celebrate in Wine Country after 13.1 miles of pretty good times.

“Going up there on my anniversary was like falling in love all over again,” Rich said.

What more do you want to hear or say on your anniversary?

You can reach staff columnist Kerry Benefield at 526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.com, on Twitter @benefield and on Instagram at kerry.benefield.