AS RUNNERS around him collapsed to the floor in exhaustion at the finish line of the Oxford Half Marathon John Strode dropped to one knee for a completely different reason.

Amid the chaos the Witney man frantically hunted down his close friend Alistair Galbraith who was keeping the ring safe before making his way back to the finish line to propose to his girlfriend Susan Emmett, who said yes.

The 38-year-old, who runs golf shop chain Yes Please Golf, based in Bicester said the run had an extra pressure

He said: “I had been thinking about proposing for a while and the Oxford Half Marathon was something we had both trained hard on together so I decided to do it after the race.

“The pressure was on for me to finish before Susan as I had to then find my friend who had the ring then get back to the finish line for when she came in.

“There was a lot going on but I found somewhere a little bit away from it all and where I could ask her.

He added: “She said yes and we went out celebrating and we are very happy.”

The proposal may have been well thought out but as Ms Emmett crossed the line after more than two hours of running, she was oblivious to what was to come.

The 42-year-old said: “I was completely surprised by it, at the time I was just pleased to have made it to the end of the race – I had no idea.

“When he got down on one knee I wasn’t expecting it at all but it was such a happy, memorable moment.”

The pair ran for Cancer Research and Bassett Rescue Network.