The search is over and he is married. That’s the word for Barbara Tatge who was chronicled on television news as she hunted for the man she kissed during her running of the Boston Marathon. She was obviously enchanted by the moment (he is said to have kissed her twice) but as might be expected — word came back from the gentleman’s wife, not from him. Ms Tatge was dared by her daughter to kiss a random, good-looking man as she legged it through the town of Wellesley, where the women of Wellesley College traditionally offer kisses to runners. Later her daughter took to social media to try to find the man, who clearly left an impression on her mom. Ms. Tatge now reports that The Wellesley Townsman, a Boston-area news outlet, passed on a letter addressed to her Sunday after the campaign generated nationwide attention. The unidentified man’s wife said the attention was fun but that the couple wanted to remain anonymous. “When this story aired on the news we were pretty surprised,” the mystery man’s wife wrote in a portion of the letter quoted by The Townsman. “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 wife continued: “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!” Tatge says she wrote back to the wife Monday, thanking her for her graciousness and good humor. “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.” Tatge also apologized for any embarrassment the search may have caused. “I just wanted her to know that the media firestorm stemmed from my loving daughter’s good-hearted dare,” she said. “I didn’t want to cause any discomfort to him or his family.” Tatge said she’s been touched by the support she’s received but is happy to move on. She also hopes to run the Boston Marathon again but with one important caveat: “Moving forward, I’m going to revert to only kissing single men.”
