A man running the London Marathon stopped only 800 meters from the finish line and dropped to one knee to propose to his girlfriend.
Ben McCreadie, 28, of Newport, Wales, was running the 42-kilometer race Sunday and stopped just short of the finish line to kneel in front of his girlfriend, Laura Rendell, 30, who was in the crowd to cheer for him, and ask her to marry him, The Sun reported Thursday.
Rendell quickly agreed and McCreadie slipped a ring on her finger and got up to finish his run.
"I couldn't think of a better way to do it. She didn't have a clue," McCreadie said. "I brought a bum bag to keep the ring in as I ran -- I then held it out and went down on one knee."
Rendell said the proposal came as a surprise.
"I was really shocked. I didn't know what to do, but I was really, really happy," she said. "I said yes, he put the ring on my finger, gave me a kiss and then he just ran off -- he had to go as he had to finish the race.
"I thought if it ever did happen it would be in a restaurant, or if we were on our own somewhere, but not at one of the biggest events of the year," Rendell said. (UPI)
<관련 한글 기사>
마라톤 도중에 털썩, ‘결혼해줘!’
런던 마라톤에 참가한 한 남자가 결승선을 800미터 남겨두고 여자친구에게 청혼을 해 화제가 되고 있다.
영국 현지언론은 웨일즈 뉴포트 출신의 벤 멕크리디 (28)가 22일(현지시간) 열린 마라톤에서 완주를 앞두고 갑자기 무릎을 꿇은 다음 관중석에 있던 여자친구 로라 렌델 (30)에게 청혼했다고 보도했다.
렌델은 곧바로 이를 받아들였으며, 그녀의 새로운 약혼자는 그녀의 손에 반지를 끼어준 직후 결승선을 통과했다.
멕크리디는 “이보다 더 좋은 방법이 생각나지 않았어요. 그녀는 상상조차 못했겠죠,”라고 말했다.
깜짝 청혼을 받은 렌델은 “정말 놀랐어요. 무엇을 해야 할지 몰랐지만, 정말 행복했어요,”라며 이렇게 큰 행사에서 청혼을 받을지 상상도 못했다고 밝혔다.
