#englishnews #CardiffHalfMarathon2023 <br /><br />News Article :-<br />Imagine getting within metres of the finish line of a half marathon and then turning round to see your partner on one knee.<br /><br />But instead of pulling a muscle, Felix Harkness, 39, pulled a ring out to propose to his partner in front of thousands of people.<br /><br />Anna Bearne, from Bristol, said she was "still in shock" and "so chuffed".<br /><br />The couple finished the race in one hour and 43 minutes and have another planned in order to go quicker.<br /><br />Ms Bearne, 38, and Mr Harkness "caught the running bug" just over a year ago and train together.<br />The Cardiff Half Marathon on Saturday was the couple's third race over the 13.1-mile (21km) distance.<br /><br />"I cannot believe he did it there and then," said Ms Bearne.<br /><br />She said she had "absolutely no clue" the proposal was coming.<br /><br />She said they had been training for 12 weeks and had both hoped to beat their personal bests.<br /><br />"We were really excited about it and then 14km (8.7 miles) into it, I think the stress of it might have got to Felix and he just started hitting the wall.<br /><br />"He just ran out of energy, could barely move his legs in front of one another - which is so unlike Felix, he's usually the one pulling me along," she said.<br /><br />"I was really cross half way around, I was really like 'there's just no point in finishing'... and he said 'no really lets just make it to the end, I don't give up on races'."<br /><br />When they got within metres of the finishing line, Mr Harkness decided it was time.<br /><br />"He pretended to pull something in his leg and went down on the floor and I turned around and was like 'come on' and then he pulled a ring out of his pocket," Ms Bearne said.<br /><br />Ms Bearne said they missed their target time by seven minutes.<br /><br />"We train together and we just started running just over a year ago and we realised we loved it.<br /><br />"We just got the bug and we've actually booked another [half marathon] in two weeks time so we can get the pace that we want," she said.<br /><br />Their three children, Fox, 6, Woody, 4 and Hero, 2 are "excited" for the "big party" the couple are now planning for their wedding, the soon-to-be bride said.
