Paul Wathan is the type of guy who always finishes what he's started. The Welsh ultra runner, 28, recently logged 210 miles at the Tor des Geants endurance trail race in Italy, placing 58th out of 500 runners, after tearing a knee ligament halfway through the event.
Despite his painful injury, Wathan was determined to cross the finish line so he could thank crew member Gemma Morgan in a big way.
“I have always been a very strong-minded person,” Wathan says. “Injuring my knee was only a hurdle I had to overcome to succeed in my two goals: finishing the event and proposing to Gemma.”
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Wathan—who kept a ring hidden in his pocket for 107 hours—got down on one knee to pop the question to his shocked longtime girlfriend in front of a cheering crowd. “Gemma's first response was to burst out crying before saying yes,” he says. “I was very pleased, but, honestly, I kept wondering, 'How am I going to get up?' My knee ligament was really painful by this point, so I ended up using race poles to pull myself back up onto my feet.”
The couple has run together in more than 30 countries and hope to tie the knot later this year. “We would like a small family wedding in Wales,” Wathan says. “We are not fancy people so simple but elegant, but the list is growing by the day so we will see how things pan out over the next couple of months.”
Regardless of whether his wedding is big or intimate, Wathan knows that running will remain a constant theme in his marriage before and after the big day.
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“Running has been a part of our relationship from the start,” he says. “We have only grown in strength as we have managed to tie our passions of traveling and running together. Having the same drive and passions as each other has definitely brought us closer.”
