TWO men who both proposed to their wives on Oxfordshire nature reserves will run a marathon around Loch Ness on Sunday for the charity that looks after them.

Sam Prior and Ed Bonn coincidentally both dropped to one knee in nature reserves managed by the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust – BBOWT.

When Mr Prior, 32, of Bampton, decided to take on the Loch Ness Marathon, he could not think of a better cause than the Littlemore-based charity.

When he asked fellow Oxford City Council parks department worker Mr Bonn, from Didcot, to join him on the 26-mile run, he discovered he also had a loving relationship with the trust.

Mr Prior, who grew up in Challow, near Wantage, said: “I’ve always loved wildlife, from when I was in the nature group at primary school.

“You can find so many interesting things when you look a little closer. It might not look like much but you never know what you’ll find.”

He met his future wife, Cat, at a German language evening class in Didcot five years ago and there was a natural attraction.

He said: “When I wanted to propose, I got her an engagement ring in the shape of a dragonfly and Dry Sandford Pit (a BBOWT nature reserve near Abingdon) in August seemed perfect – there were dragonflies flying all about the place.”

His wife is a keen nature photographer, and the couple now spend their weekends traipsing around BBOWT reserves snapping the birds and bees.

Mrs Prior-Holt said: “To run 26.2 miles you have to be perhaps slightly unbalanced, but mostly motivated. We talked about which charity he would fundraise for and there was only one choice.

“The BBOWT reserves have given us so many amazing days, one very special one, and they protect our natural world.

“You would think that’s the story, but we managed to find another person who wants to run a marathon. Then we found out that he also got engaged at a BBOWT site.”

Mr Bonn proposed to his wife-to-be, Annie Rose, at Sydlings Copse, a reserve just north of Barton in Bayswater Road with some spectacular wildflowers. The two nature lovers met two years ago when they both started working for the city Council.

To help the pair raise £500 for the trust go to justgiving.com/SamandEd