A marathon runner stopped one and a half miles before reaching the finishing line - to propose to his girlfriend . Romantic Ben Parsons , 34 , of Brighton , East Sussex , stunned girlfriend Anna Jefferson , 36 , by getting down on one knee after running 24 and a half miles . She was watching her boyfriend run in the Brighton marathon with their children Nancy , three , and Thomas , 11 months . Ben Parson , 34 , paused in the middle of the Brighton marathon and proposed to his surprised girlfriend , Anna Jefferson , 36 . Anna feared her boyfriend was struggling when he started to slow down on Hove seafront , because she was unaware of his proposal plan . Ben then got down on one knee and popped the question and Anna said yes , before Ben ran onward towards the finishing line , still managing to get a personal best timing and completing his sixth Brighton Marathon in 3hrs 36min . Ben , a media law lecturer at the University of Brighton , carried the ring in his bum bag and waited to spot Anna in the crowd on Sunday . He said : ' I wanted to do something romantic to surprise Anna and the marathon has such a feelgood , loved-up atmosphere anyway so I knew it would be the perfect time . Ben Parson had already run 24.5 miles of the 26.2-mile Brighton marathon when he stopped to propose to girlfriend and mother of his two children , Anna Parsons . At the time , Anna had been stood in the crowds with children Nancy , three , and Thomas , 11 months . 'Judging by the look on her face , she was certainly surprised . 'Once Anna had said 'yes ' and we 'd had a big sweaty hug I had to get on the move again so my legs would n't seize up . 'As I ran off I got a big cheer from the crowd . It felt like the climax of a minor British rom-com . ' I had an extra spring in my step for the last mile and a half . ' 'As I ran off I got a big cheer from the crowd . It felt like the climax of a minor British rom-com ' : After Anna said yes , Ben carried on with the marathon . He said that the pressure of the proposal spurred him on and brought the finishing line a bit closer . But he joked : 'If I had n't seen her in the crowd maybe I would have just carried on to the end and taken the ring back to Argos . ' Anna , who works for Arts Council England , and has been dating Ben since they met at City College Brighton in 2002 , said she never expected the proposal . She said : 'There had been a guy just before him who had got a cramp and had to stop for his friends to massage his leg . Newly-engaged : The happy couple are stood after the surprise proposal with their two children . 'Then Ben started slowing down and I thought 'oh god he 's going to collapse or something ' . ' I had no idea what he was planning . 'In hindsight he had suggested before that I wear something nice so we could go out for something to eat afterwards . I should really have twigged when he asked me to take his brogues in the bottom of the pram . 'Who wears brogues after running a marathon ? '
Ben Parsons , 34 , from Brighton , proposed to girlfriend Anna Jefferson , 36 . The couple had been together for two years and were planning a wedding in the summer of 2014 when he was killed by an explosion at his home on May 22 last year.