History Main / RaceForYourLove

* A variant in Chapter 66 of ''Manga/ShonanJunaiGumi'': Ryuji is supposed to meet Ayumi's parents in Yokohama (about 45 km from Shonan), but he hears about Eikichi getting lynched by Ookubo's gang and can't stand by. Once Eikichi wins, Ryuji races there on a borrowed motorcycle, catching the police's attention for speeding and supposedly driving a stolen bike. He trashes several police cars and breaks through a roadblock, but is too late to meet her parents. However, she admires his devotion to his friends and tells him she doesn't care what her parents say.

* ''Manga/{{Evangelion 303}}'': In chapter 13 [[DespairEventHorizon Asuka's depression hit rock-bottom]]. Thinking that everyone would be better off without her and feeling ashamed of abusing [[LoveInterests Shinji]] for several weeks, she decided to disappear. Having a hunch [[spoiler:that Asuka would go to see her best friend's grave first of all]], Shinji drove hundreds of miles at night, without resting, even though he was not sure that he would find her there. [[spoiler:He found her and he tried to convince her to return. When she refused, he proposed. She said yes.]]

* In ''ChristmasInTheClouds,'' Ray just barely catches up to Tina before she boards her plane. They passionately embrace as the scene turns into a pastiche of a trashy romance novel cover... [[DaydreamSurprise Then we cut back to Ray, still sitting in his car]] as the narrator cheerfully explains that Tina's plane took off [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome long before he could even find a parking spot]]. At least he remembers that the U.S. Postal Service exists and explains his side of the ThirdActMisunderstanding through a series of letters. It works; Tina comes back to see him again next Christmas.

* The trope is referenced in the ''[[Literature/{{Newsflesh}} Newsflesh]]'' series by Mira Grant. Shaun Mason, ruminating on other weird trappings and tropes of the 20th century mentions that with anti-zombie security in American airports, anyone attempting to race to catch their lover would be shot dead on the spot.

* ''Film/TheProposal'': Margaret [[RunawayBride leaves Andrew at the altar]] after feeling guilty about having coerced him into a CitizenshipMarriage to save her job. Of course, by this point Andrew has fallen in love with Margaret and now wants to marry her for real. He flies all the way from Alaska where his family back to New York, catches up to her at the office while she was packing her stuff, and proposes to her. In an AlternateEnding, he had the flight attendant of the plane to New York deliver a message to Margaret over the radio while the plane was taking off, causing the plane to turn back for Andrew to declare his love for Margaret

* A non-romantic ([[HoYay possibly]]) example occurs in the final episode of ''[[Anime/LoveLive Love Live! School Idol Project]]'', woth Honoka racing to airport to talk Kotori out of leaving for a fashion school.

* A non-romantic ([[HoYay possibly]]) example occurs in the final episode of ''[[Anime/LoveLive Love Live! School Idol Project]]'', woth Honoka racing to airport to talk Kotori out of leaving for a fashion school.
* ''Manga/NeonGenesisEvangelionAngelicDays'' plays this fairly straight, albeit gender-flipped.

* Do you know how many fanfics are built around this one? ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'', ''Manga/UruseiYatsura''...in fact, ''anything'' with a Tsundere or by Creator/RumikoTakahashi (her fondness for SlapSlapKiss relationships may be to blame).
* In ''Anime/PeachGirl'', Kairi was supposed to meet Momo at the train station if he truly loved her, and if he didn't show, then she would assume that he didn't. Since [[spoiler:his brother got attacked and hospitalized]], Kairi was too late, and because of the horrible weather, he had to run the rest of the way to the beach where they were going to stay for the weekend... only to find that [[spoiler:Momo had gone with Toji instead]].
* A platonic version occurs in ''Manga/GameXRush'', where instead of the other person (Yuuki) leaving, he's supposedly just going down to his hospital room; Memori, however, has his Spidey Sense go off, and something tells him that Yuuki is going to leave again, so naturally he rushes downstairs (from the roof) for the intercept. [[spoiler: He doesn't make it in time, but don't worry; after three years spent WalkingTheEarth, Yuuki comes back.]]
* An interesting version occurs at the very end of ''Manga/SchoolRumble'': [[spoiler: [[TheDitz Tenma]]]] makes a mad dash to the airport where [[spoiler: Karasuma]] is about to fly to America. What makes this example unique is that Tenma only gets to the airport on time courtesy of [[spoiler: Harima, who is [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy in love with Tenma]].]]

* Subverted in ''Manga/CaptainTsubasa'', as [[spoiler: Matsuyama ''does'' pull a race to talk to Yoshiko before she has to leave to the USA, but he doesn't try to tell her to stay with him. (Since she's leaving with her mother ''and'' her dad is waiting for them in the USA, it's not like he can do anything)]]. What ''actually'' follows is [[spoiler: a mutual AnguishedDeclarationOfLove and the promise to keep a LongDistanceRelationship instead]].
** A lesser version happens in the ''World Youth'' arc [[spoiler: between Kojiro Hyuga and Maki Akamine. She runs after him just when he's just boarded his bus to leave Okinawa, but when he sees her, he hops off the bus so she can properly say goodbye to him.]]
* The end of the LightNovel version of ''LightNovel/StrawberryPanic'' (not the anime) where Shizuma is about to board her private plane and leave for Europe, until Nagisa turns up [[SayMyName yelling "Shizuma-oneesama!!!!!"]]
* Parodied in the penultimate chapter of ''Manga/AiKora'', when [[spoiler: Maeda rushes to the airport to beg Sakurako to forgive him and plead with her not to move to England... except it turns out she had ''no'' plans on doing that, and Maeda ends up accidentally flying to England himself!]]
* Another platonic version in chapter 80 of ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'', [[spoiler:where nearly all the characters in the series including the Host Club themselves pitch in to ensure that Tamaki arrives at the airport in time to see his mother for the first time in three years, before she leaves again]].
* ''Anime/YuriOnIce'' in Episode 9, has [[spoiler: Victor and Yuri]] dashing towards each other when they see each other in the airport. They run without breaking eye contact before they finally get to each other and hug. During said hug, [[spoiler:Yuri asks Victor to take care of him until he retires, to which Victor responds by kissing his hand and saying that it sounds like a proposal. He then says that he wishes Yuri would never retire, which brings Yuri to tears]]. It's widely considered by fans as the most emotionally charged and touching scene of the anime up until then.

* ''Manga/StrobeEdge'' has a downplayed example. In the climax chapter, Ninako has to catch up with Ren at the train station after [[spoiler:Ando urges her to [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy basically stop pitying him and confess her love to Ren]]]]. It's downplayed because there is no distance at stake (Ren merely went home after school); the reason why there is such a tension is because [[spoiler:Ninako had just harshly rejected Ren a few minutes before and feels that if she doesn't clear up the misunderstanding ''now'', he will never talk to her again.]]
* Happens ''twice'' in ''Manga/HighScoreGirl'', first during Haruo's childhood when he rushes toward the airport to give Akira a toy ring before she leaves for America, and again at the very end where he actually ''failed'' to catch up with her before her plane could take off [[spoiler: if it weren't for all the video game characters who have supported him up to that point [[BigDamnHeroes manifesting their powers in reality]] and making it so that Akira's plane was forced to undergo an emergency landing, allowing the two to reunite and Haruo to finally confess his feelings for her.]]

* In ''ComicBook/EmpireState'', Sara and Jimmy have an ongoing debate over how plausible the ending of ''Sleepless in Seattle'' was. When Sara moves away and Jimmy realizes how much she meant to him, he tries to recreate the ending of the film, by writing her a letter pouring out his heart to her and asking her to meet him on the observation deck of the Empire State building. He acknowledges there's a chance he'll just fail and make a fool of himself, but he figures it's better than spending the rest of his life wondering what could have happened. [[spoiler:SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: As closing time approaches and Sara still hasn't shown up, Jimmy phones her and discovers that Sara never received his letter, and thus has no idea that he's in New York in the first place.]]

%%* ''ComicBook/ScottPilgrim'': In Volume 6, when Scott returns from his stay in Ontario, %%context, please%%

* Deconstructed and played with on ''Series/HappyEndings''-in "Boys II Menorah" Dave and Jane rush to the airport because Alex is there due to buying into a false airport ticket which was actually an invitation to a set-up GrandRomanticGesture dinner. When they get there, they're parked illegally, as often happens with this trope. Security tells them to move Dave's truck, and Dave tosses him the keys, giving his best cool guy impression, 'Keep it.' [[SubvertedTrope The guard quickly tosses him back the keys]] despite Dave saying its for love. [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome He and Jane try to rush past security anyway and get tackled and tazed,]] respectively.

* On ''Series/UglyBetty'', Kirsten Chenowith urged Betty to run and stop Henry from getting on a plane, and Betty mentioned she had other things she needed to do that day, didn't have the flight number, and would have trouble getting past security. Later Amanda mentioned this as a way for Marc to get back together with Cliff, but as he was in the same room at the time, Marc just went over and talked to him.
* Done several times in ''Series/{{Friends}}'', most notably in the finale when Phoebe (recklessly) drives Ross to the airport so he can tell Rachel he loves her. This actually mirrors Rachel's attempt to speak to Ross, before he boards the plane, after Chandler reveals Ross' feelings for her, in the Season 1 finale. Ross' race to the airport in season 10, is actually not his first time; after having done the exact same thing with Emily, they eventually get married. Then he ends up chasing her in an airport, once again; this time in London.
* Subverted in ''Series/InPlainSight'', when Mary's drive to the airport to chase after Rafe is stopped by all kinds of traffic...and a train...and Mary driving her car onto the train tracks and getting her dress caught in the door...as the plane flies over her head.
* The final ten minutes of ''Series/QueerAsFolk'', in what probably cements [[VictoriousChildhoodFriend Vince]] and [[JerkassWoobie Stuart]] as the official romance of the series. Their [[VitriolicBestBuds tempestuous]] [[BelligerentSexualTension relationship]] finally convinced Stuart to split for London, and Vince being too delusional or too stubborn to make an effort to stop what would have undoubtedly spelled the end of their time together, the situation leads to Stuart actually packing up and on being the verge of leaving town. However, [[ShipperOnDeck Vince's mom]] pulls all the stops in an effort to get Vince to Stuart before he leaves, and they end up reuniting and reconciling moments before Stuart drives off (and [[spoiler: leaving town together, apparently for good]].)

* ''Series/ThirtyRock'': Liz Lemon did a lower key version of this; after a fight with an ex-boyfriend while he was in town, she chases him to the airport to apologize, and give him her apartment key, just in case he visits again. Unfortunately, she [[ItMakesSenseInContext has a really delicious sandwich with her]] when she arrives and isn't allowed to take it through security. She protests to the guard that she just wants to see her boyfriend for a minute, and the guard [[LampshadeHanging scoffs that that's "sort of a cliché."]] Unwilling to give up her sandwich, she [[http://tmblr.co/ZAiPWy69zieo wolfs it down in one go]] while insisting, "I can have it all!" The guard admits, "That's less of a cliché," and lets her through.
** Lampshaded again later when Jack is about to do this, but finds his girlfriend still waiting at the bus stop.
-->'''Jack''': I was about to do the whole "run to the airport" thing like Ross did in ''Series/{{Friends}}'' and Liz Lemon did in real life.
* In the finale of ''[[Series/{{Jonas}} J.O.N.A.S L.A]]'', Stella is about to leave L.A after finding out Joe took a movie role in New Zeland without telling her. Kevin tries to drive Joe to the airport to catch up to Stella, but the car breaks down and Joe has to run the rest of the way. [[spoiler: Fortunately, by the time he gets to the airport Stella had already changed her mind about leaving and didn't get on the plane. They get back together.]]
* A rare platonic example in the last episode of ''Series/{{Spaced}}'': Daisy is leaving London and taking a train to get a job at a local paper, and Tim, not having any other means of transport, rides to the station on the back of his Series/RobotWars robot. (It is, we are told, "slightly quicker than walking".)
* KoreanSeries ''loooove'' this trope, particularly when combined with an OrbitalShot.
** ''Series/WinterSonata'': Happens multiple times over the course of the series.
** ''Series/YouAreBeautiful'': An airport looking for a nun, a bus terminal looking for a band member, a mall looking for a girlfriend, etc. etc.
* ''Series/DawsonsCreek'' has many of them, usually Joey chasing after Dawson or vice versa. One notable exception is Joey chasing after Pacey at the very end of the third season, trying to catch him before he leaves with his boat for the entire summer.
* Played with on ''Series/TheMindyProject'' - Danny races to meet Mindy at the top of the Empire State Building, is hit by a taxi a la ''Film/AnAffairToRemember'', shakes it off, and keeps running. Mindy, meanwhile, runs up all of the stairs because the elevator is broken, leaving her a panting, winded mess at the top.
* Used in an episode of Masterpiece Theatre's ''Series/{{Bramwell}}'', which finds the title character racing to the train station--in the rain, no less--to assure her fiancé that she stills loves him and still wants to marry him, despite the huge argument they had several days prior.

* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}''
** One episode was all about J.D.'s mad rush to get to Molly Clock before she left, with a note from Eliot saying it was okay for them to have a relationship. [[spoiler: Too bad the note actually said "''Now'' we're even".]]
** Parodied in another episode when J.D., who has been unsupportive towards Kim taking a job in Seattle, is shown running to the airport to tell Kim that he supports her decision, at which point they kiss, the rest of the queue cheers, and they sink to the airport floor. We then cut from the ImagineSpot to J.D. helping Kim pack, while she perplexedly asks "And then everyone just watches us make out?"

* Was lampshaded on ''Series/MadMen'' in "The Suitcase" where Peggy laments (after arguing on the phone with her boyfriend Mark while telling him she's kept working in the office and will miss her birthday dinner) that "I think Mark broke up with me", Don Draper deadpans "Go. Go run to him, like in the movies" and she [[RomanticFalseLead doesn't]].
** Played straight in the finale when [[spoiler: Peggy anxiously confesses her love on phone after Stan declared his, she finds that his line is silent, only to see he just raced from his work station to her office to hear her say "I love you" face to face. They then kiss]].

* A dark inversion of this trope occurs in the season 5 finale of ''Series/BurnNotice''. In this case, Michael races ''from'' the airport to try and catch up to Fiona. Ultimately, he [[DownerEnding fails to catch up to her]] [[spoiler: [[HeroicSacrifice to prevent her from giving herself up]] [[IrishBombThrower for bombing a British consulate]] [[GoneHorriblyRight and killing two guards.]]]]
* Parodied on ''Series/UnbreakableKimmySchmidt'' -- apparently, Amtrak runs late on purpose so people can make their stirring last-minute romantic resolutions. As the conductor explains it, many other couples kiss in the background.
* DiscussedTrope in the S2 finale of ''Series/{{Fleabag}}''. Claire's love interest Klare is on his way to the airport en route to Finland while Fleabag and Claire are attending their father's wedding. They discuss how creepy and/or clichéd it would or wouldn't be to do this, but ultimately Fleabag convinces Claire to do it anyway.
* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' managed to [[InvertedTrope invert]] this trope in the episode "The Conversion." A novice nun has fallen for Kramer and as such plans to renounce her faith rather than take her final vows. Kramer wants no part of this and after taking steps to undo his "[[KavorkaMan power]]" over her, dashes to the ceremony so that she can realize she's ''not'' in love with him in time to reconsider.
* ''Series/{{JAG}}''. Mac rushes to the airport to stop ex-fiancé Mic from returning to Australia. He sadly walks away without a word, barely even looking at her, having finally realized that she'll never love him the way she loves Harm.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'', Kafei races across Termina to reunite with Anju after retrieving his mask. Depending on how much of the sidequest you completed, [[TearJerker she might not be there]].

* In Step 5 of ''WebAnimation/ThereSheIs'' Nabi makes the mad dash for Doki in an unusual boy racing for the girl role-reversal.

* In " WebVideo/GusJohnson's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3HJzMFFbMQ Low-Budget Rom-Com]]", Gus' character realizes he has feelings for a woman he works for, so he has to run to the airport to confess his love for her while knocking over mannequins that stand in his way.

* Non-plane example in the ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' episode "Act Your Age" with Phineas having to catch Isabella's car before she leaves town to go to college. [[spoiler: He makes it and they share their first proper TheBigDamnKiss.]]

* ''Film/TheHoliday'': Amanda Woods, realizing she loves Graham on the way to the airport, tells the driver to turn around and go back whence they came. When he gets to a part that's a little tricky [potentially dangerous, even] to navigate the car out of, she gets out and runs -- on snow, in high heels -- to Graham's.

* ''Film/TheProposal'': Margaret [[RunawayBride leaves Andrew at the altar]] after feeling guilty about having coerced him into a CitizenshipMarriage to save her job. Of course, by this point Andrew has fallen in love with Margaret and now wants to marry her for real. He flies all the way from Alaska where his family back to New York, catches up to her at the office while she was packing her stuff, and proposes to her. In an AlternateEnding, he had the flight attendant of the plane to Alaska deliver a message to Margaret over the radio while the plane was taking off, causing the plane to turn back for Andrew to declare his love for Margaret

* ''Film/JasonsLyric'': By the time his friend, Rat, informs him that his brother, Joshua, is going to kill his girlfriend, Lyric, and her brother, Alonzo, Jason immediately rushes to her house. After their car is stopped by an oncoming train, Jason decides to get off his car, runs across the speeding train and races up to save her. Despite Joshua (accidentally) shoots Lyric, thankfully she survives after Jason immediately takes her to the ambulance. Jason and Lyric eventually [[EarnYourHappyEnding earn their ultimate wish: to be together]] after leaving their pasts behind.

* ''Film/JasonsLyric'': By the time his friend, Rat, informs him that his brother, Joshua, is going to kill his girlfriend, Lyric, and her brother, Alonzo, Jason immediately rushes to her house. After their car is stopped by an oncoming train, Jason decides to get off his car, runs across the speeding train and races up to save her. Despite Joshua (accidentally) shoots Lyric, thankfully she survives. Jason and Lyric eventually [[EarnYourHappyEnding earn their ultimate wish: to be together]].

* ''Film/JasonsLyric'': By the time his friend informs him that his brother, Joshua, is going to kill his girlfriend, Lyric, and her brother, Alonzo, Jason immediately rushes to her house. And after their car are stopped by an oncoming train, Jason decides to get off his car, runs across the speeding train and races to save her. Despite Joshua (accidentally) shot Lyric, thankfully she survives and they could eventually [[EarnYourHappyEnding earn their mutual wish: to be together]].

* Kate races to the mailbox by ''Film/TheLakeHouse'' so she can send Alex a letter [[spoiler: warning him not to show up for her on Valentine's Day. If he does, he'll die in her arms and they'll never be together]] to meet her later at the lake house.

* ''Film/NottingHill''. "Oh, sod a dog. I've made the wrong decision, haven't I?" followed by "Chuck" crashing a press conference.

* In ''ComicBook/EmpireState'', Sara and Jimmy have an ongoing debate over how plausible the ending of ''Sleepless in Seattle'' was. When Sara moves away and Jimmy realizes how much she meant to him, he tries to recreate the ending of the film, by writing her a letter pouring out his heart to her and asking her to meet him on the observation deck of the Empire State building. He acknowledges there's a chance he'll just fail and make a fool of himself, but he figures it's better than spending the rest of his life wondering what could have happened. [[spoiler:RealityEnsues: As closing time approaches and Sara still hasn't shown up, Jimmy phones her and discovers that Sara never received his letter, and thus has no idea that he's in New York in the first place.]]

* In ''ChristmasInTheClouds,'' Ray just barely catches up to Tina before she boards her plane. They passionately embrace as the scene turns into a pastiche of a trashy romance novel cover... [[DaydreamSurprise Then we cut back to Ray, still sitting in his car]] as the narrator cheerfully explains that Tina's plane took off [[RealityEnsues long before he could even find a parking spot]]. At least he remembers that the U.S. Postal Service exists and explains his side of the ThirdActMisunderstanding through a series of letters. It works; Tina comes back to see him again next Christmas.

* Deconstructed and played with on ''Series/HappyEndings''-in "Boys II Menorah" Dave and Jane rush to the airport because Alex is there due to buying into a false airport ticket which was actually an invitation to a set-up GrandRomanticGesture dinner. When they get there, they're parked illegally, as often happens with this trope. Security tells them to move Dave's truck, and Dave tosses him the keys, giving his best cool guy impression, 'Keep it.' [[SubvertedTrope The guard quickly tosses him back the keys]] despite Dave saying its for love. [[RealityEnsues He and Jane try to rush past security anyway and get tackled and tazed,]] respectively.

* Used in an episode of Masterpiece Theatre's ''Series/{{Bramwell}}'', which finds the title character racing to the train station--in the rain, no less--to assure her fiance that she stills loves him and still wants to marry him, despite the huge argument they had several days prior.

** Season 1, "The Gift": Doug races to Carol's engagement party to tell her he loves her, but RealityEnsues. She screams at him to leave her alone and her fiance punches him.
** Season 3, "Union Station": Mark races to Chicago's Union Station to tell the departing Susan that he loves her. Again, RealityEnsues--she gently rebuffs him and leaves anyway.

* [[http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/nyregion/10newark.html In January 2010, a 28-year-old man ran past security at Newark Liberty International Airport to kiss his girlfriend before her flight took off.]] Sounds romantic, right? Actually, it's a good example of why doing this is a ''terrible'' idea in [[RealityEnsues Real Life]]. The entire terminal was shut down for six hours, flights were cancelled and delayed around the world, 1,600 passengers were stranded inside the terminal and it cost taxpayers and airlines millions of dollars. The guy was arrested after a five day manhunt and found guilty of defiant trespass, the only thing he could be charged with. [[ThereShouldBeALaw The reaction of most New Jersey residents was that his subsequent conviction and sentence of a $600 fine and 100 hours of community service wasn't nearly enough punishment]].

* In the 1964 film ''Film/SexAndTheSingleGirl'', the race lasts for 15 minutes, and involves three couples, two cars, two cabs and a police motorcycle.

* A non-romantic ([[HoYay possibly]]) example occurs in the final episode of ''Anime/LoveLive Love Live! School Idol Project'', woth Honoka racing to airport to talk Kotori out of leaving for a fashion school.

* A non-romantic ([[HoYay possibly]]) example occurs in the final episode of ''Anime/LoveLive!SchoolIdolProject'', woth Honoka racing to airport to talk Kotori out of leaving for a fashion school.

* A non-romantic ([[HoYay possibly]]) example occurs in the final episode of ''Anime/LoveLiveSchoolIdolProject'', woth Honoka racing to airport to talk Kotori out of leaving for a fashion school.

* Discussed, lampshaded, mocked (they even mention Notting Hill) and finally heartbreakingly subverted in ''Film/{{Weekend}}'', a realistic drama about a gay couple.

* 1990 romcom ''Don't Tell Her It's Me,'' a.k.a. ''The Boyfriend School,'' ends with a classic chase to the airport gate where our star-crossed lovers overcome all the comic misunderstandings that have come between them.

* Happens ''twice'' in ''Manga/HighScoreGirl'', the first during Haruo's childhood when he rushes toward the airport to give Akira a toy ring [[spoiler: and again at the very end where he actually ''failed'' to meet her before her plane could take off--if it weren't for all the video game characters who have supported him up to that point [[BigDamnHeroes manifesting their powers in real life and making it so that Akira's plane was forced to undergo an emergency landing]], allowing the two to meet and Haruo to finally confess his feelings for her.]]

* ''Bollywood/DilwaleDulhaniaLeJayenge'': Simran chases the train Raj is in after her dad finally realizes that she and Raj deserved to be together since no one could love her as much as Raj does, and lets her go after Raj.

* This trope is {{discussed|Trope}}, {{lampshade|Hanging}}d, and then {{exaggerated|Trope}} by the Bollywood movie ''Bollywood/JaaneTuYaJaaneNa'' (''Know It Or Not'') in a clever way.

[[folder: Anime]]

* ''LiveActionTV/{{Seinfeld}}'' managed to [[InvertedTrope invert]] this trope in the episode "The Conversion." A novice nun has fallen for Kramer and as such plans to renounce her faith rather than take her final vows. Kramer wants no part of this and after taking steps to undo his "[[KavorkaMan power]]" over her, dashes to the ceremony so that she can realize she's ''not'' in love with him in time to reconsider.