They bonded over a shared love of running after meeting at their local Presbyterian church social group.
Now, Norma and Jim Lole are about to celebrate 70 years of marriage.
Norma, 93, and Jim, 94, still live in the same house they moved into in Hawkesbury Crescent, Farrer almost 53 years ago.
They relocated from Melbourne to Canberra on Australia Day, 1971, the day of the deadly Woden floods in which seven people tragically died.
"We got in here at half-past three on a most beautiful day. We went around to people's place for tea and by the time we came back, the water had gone through the milk cart that was parked out the front here," Norma remembered.
"And it rained for three weeks."
Despite that dramatic introduction to Canberra, the couple loved their new home.
"We've never looked back," Jim said.
Tuesday will be their 70th wedding anniversary.
Norma and Jim were married at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Footscray on December 5, 1953.
They were both born in Footscray, but bought their first house in West Heidelberg, Melbourne where their two children, David and Janice were born.
Norma was a sprinter - she still has her age championship cup from 1943 in the loungeroom cabinet - while Jim was a middle-distance runner.
So, when they met, running was a common subject of conversation.
They have kept active throughout their lives, playing tennis until they were 80, and then taking up pitch 'n' putt.
"We're happy that we've reached it and had all that extra time together," Jim said, of their 70th anniversary.
"The only thing is as you get older, you get so frustrated at the things you can't do."
Jim was the company secretary of JJ Marr Homes, which was integral in building many government and private homes in the 1960s to 1980s.
Many of the houses in Woden, Weston Creek and early Belconnen were built by Marr's, as there was an influx of people moving to Canberra. Most were part of the Commonwealth departments who relocated from Melbourne to Canberra.
"The work dried up down there [in Victoria] and it was really booming up here [in Canberra]," Jim said.
Their own home in Farrer was also a JJ Marr Home, built for them specially.
"It was an incentive to come up," Jim said. "We had a humble weatherboard house in Melbourne and here we were getting a bigger brick house."
Norma worked as a part-time book-keeper for Glenroy Roof trusses, Glenroy Building Supplies, Ern Smith Building Supplies and builder Ned Vidovic.
"I wouldn't work unless I could play tennis on Tuesdays and Thursdays," she said.
The couple also shared a love of jazz music, performing in bands, Jim on saxophone and Norma on washboard.
Theirs has been a gentle, enduring partnership. And there's no huge secret to it.
"First of all, we love each other and we share everything," Norma said.
"We've always done things together."
Jim reckoned: "Everything in moderation".
"We also never left the church," Nola said.
"We kept up with our faith," he said.
The couple has four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren who all live in the Canberra region.
They will celebrate their anniversary with lunch at the Courgette restaurant in the city.
