As the Boston Marathon tradition goes, the women of Wellesley get all of the kisses.

But one runner—spurred on by a bet with her daughters—decided to reverse the tradition, and she smooched a Wellesley man instead.

Barbara Tatge, 54, from Lakeland, Tennessee, told the MetroWest Daily News she now wants to find her John Doe who yelled, “Call me!” as she turned away to finish the race in 4:15:21.

“I passed the girls at Wellesley and ran another mile and a half,” Tatge said. “I thought I was out of Wellesley, but I spotted a tall, good looking man. And you know how sometimes you speak before you think? Well, I darted over to him.”

She asked what town they were in—he said they were still in Wellesley—and then she revealed the dare she’d been given and that she needed a picture to prove it.

The man obliged, and the person he was spectating with snapped the photos.

“Before I knew it I was kissing him on the lips,” Tatge said. “He kissed me a couple more times. We held it so we made sure we got the pictures.”

Tatge said her daughter initiated the search for the anonymous man as a gift for Tatge's 55th birthday this week.

“I thought it was a joke, but I said, ‘Sure, whatever,’” Tatge said. “So she emailed the paper with one of the pictures.”

Tatge started running five years ago when she turned 50, setting a goal to run a marathon to mark the milestone. She was also newly single after ending a 25-year marriage and was celebrating a year of being in cancer remission.

“Running opened up a whole new social outlet for me,” Tatge said. “All of my friends now are runners, and I volunteer at a runner’s club for troubled teens.”

Last year, she qualified for the Boston Marathon with 14 minutes to spare.

“My goal [for Boston] was not to have a great time clockwise, but a great time experience-wise,” Tatge said. “But my daughters are always looking out for my best interests, and I’m always one to seize adventure.

“I don’t know that when I stepped up to the start line that I would kiss a man, but after I passed the girls at Wellesley, I thought, What the heck? I’ll kiss a guy and show my daughters that if you dare me, I’ll do it. Why not reverse the tradition?”

After the kiss, Tatge, who travels to Boston once a month for work, said she spent the rest of the race kicking herself, wishing she’d gotten his number.

On the plus side, “That stupid kiss gave my shoes wings,” she said.

Now Tatge wants to find her John Doe, who had "such a great smile.

“It would make me happy if he were available,” Tatge said. “But I don’t want to make his life miserable if he’s not.”

And if he’s reading this article, Tatge wants him to get this message: “If you’re single, I regret not getting your number.”

Update: The mystery man has been found! Find out if Tatge will have her fairytale ending here.

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