As Emma Kessler headed to her first half marathon, her boyfriend’s running shoes were in the trunk, and a surprise was in the works.
Kessler, a 22-year-old, had been anxious for weeks. Running 13 miles is no easy task—especially for a rookie.
Emma kept looking for a running partner as race day approached, someone to help boost her pace and her confidence during the Rockin’ Riverfest Half Marathon in St. Charles, Missouri. She kept badgering her boyfriend, Jason Burns, but in conversations, Jason never wavered in his response.
No, I can’t. Sorry.
Behind the scenes, though, Jason was planning something big. He was a competitive powerlifter and Emma had perfect attendance at his events. This was his chance to return the support.
“Ever since we met, she has been to every one of my competitions and supported me no matter how far away they were, or how much they cost,” Jason told USA Today. “I didn’t really think it’s fair if I sit on the side of the course and only see her for 30 seconds during her two-hour (race), so I decided that it didn’t matter how I felt on the day, if she was going to run, I was going to run with her.”
Making it all happen would take some training and some deception though.
Jason ran in secret for two months leading up to race day. He completed the registration unbeknownst to Emma. And as they hopped in the car on the way to the race, Jason made sure to sneak his running shoes in.
“I knew she’d be relieved knowing she didn’t have to run alone because I watched her anxiety about the race increase every week that we got closer to actual race day,” Jason said.
Now, the only thing left to do was announce the surprise, so Jason told Emma he had something in the trunk.
“What?” Emma said in a video of the moment. “You’re making me nervous. What?”
The suspense was replaced by happy tears when she saw the running shoes in the car.
“No, you’re lying, are you really doing it?” Emma asked about the race.
Jason even had a printed copy of a text message Emma sent a while back, saying “I wish you’d run half marathons w/ me.”
The wish came true, and Jason confessed his secret. “I’ve been running every weekend since the last (race) you ran.”
“I feel so much better,” Emma said. The anxiety was gone.
There’s no reason to carry extra worries to the starting line when you know you’ll have someone by your side the entire time.
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The next parts of the video show Emma and Jason running next to each other at mile 4.6, then again, at about 9.75. Finally, there’s video after the race, with Emma and Jason both wearing medals around their necks.
“How do you feel?” Jason asks. “Way better now that we’re done,” Emma jokes.
The couple had crossed the finish line together after 2 hours and 29 minutes on the course.
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