Staff at Worsley Court House are well used to nervous grooms making provisional wedding bookings.
But it’s the first time they’ve had to wait for one to complete the Berlin marathon before finding out if the lucky lady said yes.
Salford fitness coach Vic Thompson chose the Brandenburg gate – 26 miles in and just 200 metres from the finish line to pop the question to his girlfriend Sarah Cook as they ran the marathon together.
And now they’re on the home straight for their special day in December – and a lifetime of running together.
Vic, 38, said: “I wanted to give Sarah a day she would remember. We met through running, we’ve done some half marathons together and Berlin is her favourite city so I thought it seemed the ideal way to propose.
“She had always said if she got married she wanted it to be at Worsley Court House. I provisionally booked it all with Salford City Council before we went, so if she said no or thought it was too short notice I could cancel it.
“As we came under the Brandenburg Gate, I stopped her and said I was sorry I hadn’t got her an present for our anniversary a few weeks earlier but I had something for her now. I said there was a question that came with it and that I didn’t want to finish the race unless she was my fiancée.
“She was so shocked that she couldn’t answer so I said please don’t make me get down on one knee. I might never get back up again.”
Sarah, 37, a nurse, said: “I was shocked but as soon as he went into his pocket I knew what he was going to do. I had no idea Vic had booked the venue I wanted though!
“I put the ring on and we crossed the finish line together. Everyone was cheering and I was flashing my ring and then we went onto the Bundestag to cool down and I rang my family.”
The couple power walked the marathon due to Vic being injury and completed it in 6:30:53.
Vic and Sarah met seven years ago through an online running community and have since completed the New York marathon together as well as several half marathons.
Worsley Court House is a Grade II listed building, built on the site of the village stocks in 1849 for the 1st Earl of Ellesmere. It originally housed the Court Leet, the local manorial court, dealing with administrative matters relating to the manor. The building also offered night classes in the 1850s for estate workers and tenants and as a village hall for social functions.
The last Court Leet was held in 1888 but the building continued to be used for sometime afterwards as a magistrates court. It was bought in 1966 by Worsley Urban District Council, was extended in 1967 and passed to Salford City Council in 1974. Today it is used for social functions and weddings.
