Emma Kessler signed up to run the Rockin’ Riverfest Half Marathon in St. Charles, Missouri, but she became nervous about running the half marathon alone. She asked her boyfriend, Jason Burns, to run with her, but he told her no. But little did Emma know, Jason had big plans.
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“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 event, 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.”
Jason Surprised Emma the Morning of the Half Marathon
Jason trained for the half marathon in secret. He surprised Emma by pulling his running shoes out of the trunk when they got to the race.
“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,” he said.
Emma immediately began to cry. She felt both excited and relieved to have someone by her side who loved her enough to support her in such a huge way.
“My favorite part of the experience of surprising her was just watching all her anxiety about running completely disappear,” Jason said of the half marathon. “Watching her go from someone completely scared about whether or not they’d be able to do this extremely hard feat and basically turning into a kid on Christmas getting the one present they’ve always wanted.”
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