Our first date was a blind date in Carson Park. But the plan was not to watch baseball or play on the slides. Our first date was cold and snowy three mile run in Carson Park. Matt said it would be a “conversational pace” which wasn’t exactly true in Katie’s opinion. But, maybe this was a good sign of excitement? After the run, we hugged and went our separate ways. A few days later, our second date was dinner at Acoustic Cafe followed by a running documentary at Matt’s apartment. If only then we had realized how perfectly this second date foreshadowed a very typical evening in our future...

We continued to live out our first date together again and again over the next few years. This meant running all over the United States! Our dating took us from Texas to Oregon to Georgia to Arizona to Hawaii to Mississippi...and everywhere in between! But although we love to travel, Eau Claire is home! It always feels sentimental whenever we happen to run at Carson Park together.

Matt knew Katie would want a surprise proposal. Matt felt the engagement needed to involve a run or it just wouldn’t count! Matt asked Katie’s parents how they would feel about him as a son-in-law...and then they immediately started ring shopping. Matt planned to propose to Katie on a marathon trip they were taking with her parents to Louisiana. Katie’s dad was the “first ring bearer” due to fears of traveling with an engagement ring through TSA checks with Katie. The night before the marathon Matt suggested going out for a pasta dinner and made dinner reservations. Katie somewhat reluctantly agreed as she wanted “simple and predictable” food pre-race. There were so many signs that Katie completely missed...like an unusual number of staff happily watching us walk in and the host knowing Matt by name. After we settled in our seats, Katie’s dad said he would like to propose a toast to the trip. Matt cut him off stating that actually HE would like to propose a toast. Matt stood up, pushed in his chair, got on one knee, and proposed. You could not write this story any better than it has played out. The saying is true: Those that run together, stay together.