A marthon proposal, and more

last updated 8 January 2015

A marthon proposal

Short of breath, runner Bryan Pitcairn dropped to one knee 10 feet before the finish line of the Philadelphia Marathon last week. Pitcairn—who had run the 26.2- mile race alongside his girlfriend of three years, Katy Pellani—wasn’t exhausted, he was proposing marriage. Pitcairn held out the ring he had carried through the race and asked Pellani to marry him. The crowd cheered as Pitcairn awaited her reply. She accepted, and the newly engaged runners, both 23, completed the final 10 feet of the marathon hand in hand.

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John Hodgson of Leeds, England, had always been an athlete. But when he hit the age of 90, he found he could no longer run competitively. So he promptly took up indoor rowing instead. Now 100, Hodgson is set to become the oldest participant in the British Indoor Rowing Championship, the world’s largest indoor rowing event, which takes place in Birmingham this week. The winner usually finishes the 2,000-meter race in under six minutes; Hodgson hopes to make it in 10 minutes 30 seconds. “I’ve been keeping fit since I was a teenager, and it’s always been a passion of mine,” he said. “You need great determination.”

Donald and David Moss of British Columbia were born on the same day 51 years ago, and this week the identical twins became grandparents on the same day as well. Donald’s daughter-in-law Ashley gave birth to his granddaughter Malia Moss at 4 a.m. on Nov. 21. At 1:25 p.m.—on the same floor of the same hospital—David’s daughter Catherine MacDuff gave birth to Georgia Teresa MacDuff. “This is pretty unique, right?” David mused. “You could have never called that one. It’s a long shot, I’d say.” As for their new granddaughters: “Both are just beautiful little girls,” he said, “so we’re pretty happy.”