On his 28th birthday, San Antonio, Texas, runner Jacob Melego received a heartwarming gift during a run. After he was presented with a custom bib number, his friends began popping up along his running route, ready to join the pack. “I genuinely had no idea they had this planned,” Melego captioned a TikTok post. “I was so surprised.”
@melegbro Here’s to being 28 soon. #birthday #surprise #run ♬ Home – Edith Whiskers
“Thinking I’m going on a normal run when my friends started showing up along the trail,” Melego wrote. “There were like five different parts of the trail where friends were waiting to run with me.” The outing began at the Rim Trailhead in San Antonio, a popular running path. By the end of the run, which took place on Feb. 15, Melego’s birthday run club consisted of him, his girlfriend and their 11 friends. The wholesome moment earned a feature on Good Morning America‘s site.
“Can we run with you guys?” One of his friends said while surprising him. “What a coincidence!”
“Happy birthday buddy,” said another runner in the group.
According to his social media, Melego has been an avid runner for two years. He creates videos about many of his running, swimming and cycling workouts, providing training advice, injury tips, gear reviews and simply documenting his early-morning training routine. He clocked 4:29:26 at his marathon debut at the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Antonio in December, and is currently training to break two hours in the half-marathon distance.
