The Fete Blog

Most of our friends remember this shoot (meaning, many of John’s former teammates gave him a hard time for it). It was a cloudy afternoon and my dear friend and favorite person Jen Fariello called me asking if John and I would, on a whim, come model for her up at Carter’s Mountain. The results– our first love shoot session! Jen didn’t like the shirt John was wearing, so the topless photos are totally all her doing! I had just come back from South Korea (for the Track & Field World Championships) and John had been training and road racing since coming back from Europe.

{photography by Jen Fariello}

Our love story is probably typical for two professional runners (okay, I was still a collegiate runner at the time, but details). We met at a track meet. The entire thing was the doing of my coach and best friend Mary Jayne and also completely the work of fate. We were in Bloomington; MJ was going on and on about some twins she had known out at the Oregon Track Club. She saw a picture of John and his twin brother Sean in the IU athletic facilities. She still had his number and texted him. He responded, “MJ, I’m living in Bloomington again!” Their reunion ensued and she invited him to dinner after her steeplechaser raced. He agreed.

It was love at first sight for him. I was feeling awkward– dirty and sweaty after my race (although I won it, which gave me cool points). We didn’t end up sitting next to each other at dinner, although at one point, we were talking about the shirt he was wearing and I leaned over to touch his chest and feel the integrity of the fabric. He held the door open for me as we left and asked, “How was your pizza?” It was true love.