Jessie was just looking for a running partner but found a whole lot more.

Jessie Rix of Fergus Falls, MN was just looking for a running buddy when she signed up as a volunteer with Achilles International -- a non-profit that pairs able-bodied runners with disabled runners. Rix was partnered with Anthony Butler, who had lost his sight 10 years earlier in a tragic shooting.

“Everyone used to call me bright eyes," Butler told Good Morning America, "so I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I don’t have my eyes anymore. 'That’s like my trademark. What am I going to do?'"

He turned to running, which is how he and Rix eventually met. It wasn't long before they were more than just running partners.

“That first day I met Anthony, I was like, ‘I need that person in my life one way or another,’” Rix told GMA. “He’s the happiest, most optimistic person in the world, and you just don't get that anymore.”

Together, the two have completed four marathons around the world over the past two years. They learned to keep pace by running with a tether attached to each other.

On Sunday, November 4 they run the the New York City Marathon together.