Boyfriend’s secret training pays off as couple runs first half marathon together

A Missouri woman’s race-day anxiety disappeared the moment she opened her trunk and found a surprise: her boyfriend’s running shoes.

Emma Kessler, 22, was preparing for her first half marathon at the Rockin’ Riverfest in St. Charles, Missouri. She had been anxious for weeks and kept asking her boyfriend, Jason Burns, to run with her. His answer was always the same: “No, I can’t. Sorry.”Behind the scenes, Jason was planning the opposite. A competitive powerlifter who said Emma had attended every one of his events, he decided 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.”For two months he trained in secret, registered for the race without telling her, and made sure to pack his running shoes for the drive.“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,” Jason said.

The reveal came in the parking lot. In video of the moment, Jason told Emma he had something in the trunk. “What? You’re making me nervous. What?” Emma said. Her nervousness turned to tears when she saw the shoes. “No, you’re lying, are you really doing it?” she asked. Jason also pulled out a printed text from Emma that read, “I wish you’d run half marathons w/ me.” He then confessed: “I’ve been running every weekend since the last race you ran.”“I feel so much better,” Emma said. The anxiety was gone.