It’s not uncommon to see runners drop to one knee and propose to their significant others during a race.
Neil Taytayan had a better idea.
For his proposal to his girlfriend, Maricel “Chelle” Calo, Taytayan spelled “Chelle will you marry me?” on foot through the streets of San Francisco where he lives. The act of love took him more than a year, and he ran a total of 150 miles to create the letters.
Then while the couple was on vacation in Hawaii earlier this month, Taytayan took Calo on a run up to Kuliouou Ridge. At the trail’s peak, he showed her an Instagram account he created that included maps of each letter along with photos of him and Calo. As Calo scrolled through the profile, she read what Taytayan calls his “proposal run.”
“Her initial reaction was, ‘Are you serious?’” Taytayan told Runner’s World Newswire in an email. “I was thinking, ‘Of course, I did not run 150 miles just to prank you!’ Instead, I calmly said, ‘Yes, I’m serious, will you marry me?’ She cried and said, ‘Yes!’”
The couple forged a long-distance relationship—Calo lives in the Philippines—over the span of three years. Both work as CPAs and met while working for the same client. They weren’t runners before they met, but they grew to love the sport together, competing with each other by comparing their weekly mileage through the Nike+ app.
“I used to be overweight, and I lost over 30 pounds to date,” Taytayan said. “She started running to manage stress and for a healthy lifestyle.”
Calo has since logged multiple 10Ks, and Taytayan ran a marathon two weeks before the proposal. But because of the distance between them, Taytayan and Calo have yet to run a race together.
ldquo;Her initial reaction was, ‘Are you serious?’” Taytayan told: Sign up for the RW Daily newsletter
Taytayan’s inspiration for how he could pop the question came from a route he did to celebrate New Year’s Day in 2014. With Calo’s help, he mapped out “2014” on foot.
“After I completed the run, she jokingly said that next time I have to do her name,” Taytayan said. “That gave me an idea to run my proposal.
“I wanted my proposal to be unique and memorable: a proposal with exciting story that I can share with my children,” Taytayan added.
Though no definitive plans have been made yet, Taytayan said they intend to incorporate running into their wedding.
