Kay and Joe O'Regan grasp hands as they approach the finish line of the 2016 Cork City Marathon. (photograph courtesy of Cork City Marathon)

Kay and Joe O’Regan have finished dozens of races around the world: from Boston to Athens to Berlin to the northern tip of Norway in the midnight sun.

But they’ve only finished two marathons while holding hands. At the 1986 London Marathon they laced fingers as a race photographer took their photo

under the finish clock.

They were both 50 years old, and it was their first marathon.

At the 2016 Cork City Marathon in southern Ireland on June 6, again Joe grabbed Kay’s hand. This time it was more than a half-mile from the finish line,

and he held it the rest of the race.

At 80 years old, Kay completed her 113th marathon while Joe finished his 29th. They promised each other it would be their last,

a final 26.2 jaunt to celebrate their 57th wedding anniversary.