Jaimie & Brian in Goldbar, WA

Jaimie and Brian were engaged for eight-and-a-half months -- “just enough time to plan the perfect wedding,” says Jaimie -- before tying the knot on a summer evening at a rustic Seattle lodge. The Bride Jaimie Abbott The Groom Brian Burton The Date July 31 Jaimie, 29, and Brian, 27, both teachers, met at a Seattle Mariners game where they were both guests of a mutual friend. The two quickly found that while they had virtually no interest in baseball, they had substantially more in each other. Soon after their initial encounter they kicked off their relationship doing something they both loved -- running -- in the Hood-to-Coast 200-mile relay race in Portland, Oregon. The intense relay had Jaimie and Brian cooped up in a van together for 40 hours; it was the perfect opportunity for the pair to really get to know one another. According to Brian, “our passion for each other has been running wild ever since!” Fifteen months after their first marathon date, Brian used their shared athleticism to surprise Jaimie with a proposal. He feigned a trip to the gym, instead trekking to a distant jewelry store to pick up the engraved ring he had customized for his bride-to-be. On the drive home Brian called her family to share the news, and later that evening he proposed.