Surprise of a lifetime: Windsor, Ont. wife surprises husband with dual Boston Marathon qualifications

A Windsor wife has surprised her husband, a Boston Marathon qualifier, that she has also qualified for the race. Bob Bellacicco has the heartwarming story.

A Windsor, Ont. wife surprised her husband, who qualified for the Boston Marathon, that she secretly qualified and would be running alongside him.

The couple crossed the finish line hand-in-hand on Monday.

The Boston Marathon is one of the hardest races to qualify for, but even if you do, it’s even harder to get into.

Erik Chovin qualified three times for the race, but his name was never pulled in the lottery.

“Even if you’re good enough, you’re still not good enough,” Chovin said.

He had done 15 marathons previously and kept going, not wanting to leave the dream behind.

“I didn’t want to quit. I said, ‘I’m going to do this one day’, and sure enough, I got it,” he said.

But little did he know, his wife, Stephanie Trepanier, entered and qualified for the marathon as well. She waited until Chovin was officially in before giving him the big news.

“She kind of surprised me and said, ‘Oh by the way, I also registered’ and I was like, ‘No way!’” Chovin exclaimed.

“I wanted to surprise him with not only the fact that he was going to Boston, but we’re able to actually do it together,” Trepanier said.

She had run the marathon two years ago and was able to help Chovin through the course.

“20 years down the road, me finishing five minutes faster, or him finishing before me is not going to matter,” she said.

“I really wanted to finish and cross that finish line with him.”

Chovin said nothing can ever duplicate the feeling of crossing the finish line holding hands.

The couple initially met at a race in Detroit a few years ago, bringing their love story full circle.

More photos are available here.