Half marathon ends in wedding proposal delight
echo.newsdesk@walesonline.co.uk
A CARDIFF Half Marathon runner had an extra special reason for celebrating crossing the finish line – because her boyfriend sprung a surprise wedding proposal.
Ben Williams will marry Catherine Edmunds after he popped the question when they completed this year’s event.
“He was planning on proposing as soon as I crossed the line, but I could hardly walk at that point,” Catherine, 33, said.
“So, he left it five or 10 minutes and we went to meet my mum, my niece and nephew and we had quite a nice little moment with my family.”
She added: “He said I didn’t make it easy for him, because I stopped next to some portable toilets and he kindly asked me if we could go somewhere else.
“He asked if we could have photos at the top of the steps just by City Hall, you know, just a normal photo after the race.
“So we went up there and my nephew came up to take the photos and he took that moment to get the ring out of his bag behind my back.
“He then told me how much he loved me, how I was the love of his life and asked me to be his wife on one knee.”
The pair, who live in Risca, met six months ago, with Ben helping to train Catherine for the run.
Catherine had signed up for the race to raise funds for charity Prostate Cancer UK.
It was a cause close to her heart after losing her dad Paul on December 30 last year, four years after developing prostate cancer. He was 65.
Ben, 36, said: “Unfortunately, I never got the chance to meet Catherine’s dad.
“He passed away just a few months before I met Catherine.
“I really would have loved the opportunity to get to know him and thank him for raising such a wonderful daughter.
“I did visit his burial plot to ask his permission before the proposal and I like to think I make Catherine happy enough for him to have approved.”
Catherine said: “Ben said that it felt like it was such a big thing for me, having done that race and also because we were doing it for my dad, it kind of felt like my dad was there.
“He just thought it was the right way to do it. Which was lovely.”
The pair have already raised more than £1,000 between them for Prostate Cancer UK and Prostate Cancer Cymru.
Catherine, who lost an incredible 11st in the two years before the half marathon, said: “I’ve been on quite the fitness journey.
“Two years ago I was extremely overweight and unhealthy and I lost a considerable amount of weight the year before [Dad] passed and he was always really proud of me.
“Whenever I was training, he would always ask me what I was doing. If I walked into a room he would call me ‘slim’ and was always dead proud.
“So, for me to do this, he would have been beside himself.”
Ben – who’s a massive Cardiff City fan – and Catherine are now preparing for their big day.
“We would like it to be next year, but we are going to find the venue and then take it from there,” Catherine said.
■ If you would like to donate to Catherine’s JustGiving page, visit www.just giving.com/fundraising/catherine edmunds