I Do!: Meagan Kolakowski and Adam Cifka of Bethpage

There was always a spark between Meagan Kolakowski and Adam Cifka — but it took the pandemic to bring them together.

The two met in 2018 through a mutual friend while they were both competing in a Spartan Race in Old Bethpage. Kolakowski, now 30, said she was in a relationship at the time but the pair hit it off and stayed friends. Both athletes who run competitively for fun, they became so close that they referred to each other as “race husband and wife,” Kolakowski said.

“I always had this attraction for him, but it never worked out timing-wise,” she said.

Then the pandemic happened. At home with nowhere to go, Kolakowski’s thoughts turned to Cifka. Mustering up her courage, she messaged him over Instagram and they talked all night, she said. Shortly after, they met up for a socially distant walk that lasted four hours.

“I was pleasantly surprised,” Cifka, 33, said. “I never would have reached out first, so I was really happy she did.”

After that walk, the friends quickly became a couple.

About one year later, on Sept. 18, 2021, Cifka surprised Kolakowski by proposing at the Bay Shore Manor Park pier. As a new couple, they had met there every Sunday morning to eat bagels and talk about their week.

Cifka had been planning the proposal for months, he said, arranging for his parents and sister, and Kolakowski’s aunt and her best friend to be there. He timed it for just around sunset.

“The only thing I didn’t plan was what to say, but I knew that would come. I was extremely nervous, but it was one of the best moments of my life,” he said.

And there was more to come: The couple married on Sept. 15, 2023. Then one month later, they welcomed a baby boy.

“It was quite a year for us!” Kolakowski said.