Running is about way more than PBs and physical prowess. We evangelistas all know that. For Lianne Carvell, running has been there for her as a teen, through womanhood, pregnancy and post partum. It’s intrinsically linked to her work life, it’s a way to clear her head and a chance to spend time with her husband… Unusually, it even played a large part in his marriage proposal.
Not many runners can boast a finish-line proposal, never mind one at the London Marathon! But Lianne’s then-boyfriend James ran the whole 26.2 miles with a ring wrapped in foil and carefully stowed in his running shorts. There it had been, unbeknown to Lianne, in the rucksack, in flat-lay photos, around the course they mostly ran together… until he surprised her at the end, in front of cameras and the world’s press.
Lianne explains: “It was 10 years ago, in 2013. James finished the race a good half an hour ahead of me and managed to persuade the race officials that he could wait for me at the finish line. It was a genuine shock when he asked me to marry him because, although I’d probably always thought he’d ask me in some kind of sweaty lycra state, due to the nature of our personalities, I wasn’t expecting it then!”