Romance On The Run
On New Year's Eve at the start of the Resolution Run 5-K, in State College, Penn., race director Dave Eggler (who was in on the plan) called Guy Gordon, one of the region's top master distance runners, to the line and handed him the microphone. Gordon recapped the significance of the race to himself and his girlfriend, Laurie Parton, and then asked a very shocked Parton, an Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier, to step forward and asked her to marry him. Parton said "absolutely" and Gordon removed a ring he had hidden in his glove. The two then ran the race, with Gordon winning the masters and Parton finishing top female overall.