Throughout the entire 42km of Sundown Marathon Singapore, Ramesh s/o Tamilarath ran with a wedding ring kept in a small pouch tied to his waist. Nothing would stop him, not even his knackered legs that nearly gave way around the run’s halfway mark.
It was “mind over body” as 29-year-old Ramesh described it and as soon as the aircraft engineer finished the race last Sunday morning, he went down on one knee and proposed to his childhood sweetheart, Menaga Mithya Devi.
“I was really surprised during the proposal and honestly didn’t know how to react. People around me looked anxious and happy at the same time,” said Mithya, 28.
“After he proposed and put the ring on my left fourth finger, I was thinking about how awesome and beautiful this feeling is. It can only be felt by the heart and not described.”
Ramesh and Mithya have been a couple since 2001, when both were in their respective secondary schools. It was love at first sight as the two met at Yishun stadium more than a decade ago. Mithya was celebrating Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary School’s sports meet while her beau Ramesh, a former Naval Base Secondary School student, was having soccer training.
Also read: Guy uses Pinterest to create the perfect wedding!
If sports was the party that brought the two lovebirds together, it was to be the one to start their happily ever after too. Ramesh took 3 months to plan for the marriage proposal together with a group of friends. The team had gotten clearance from event organisers of the Sundown Marathon Singapore prior to the big day.
Ramesh said: “My colleagues were all part of my team. I bought 5 plain T-shirts and did printing of the words ‘WILL YOU MARRY ME’ for them while for myself, it said ‘I will go the distance for you’. A lot of planning and coordination was done prior to the race because she was running 21km and I was running 42km.
“There was also a lot of pointers to look out for like who could make it till the end and who might fall out. I spoke to the events manager for clearance and other necessary things for me to have a successful proposal as I wanted to do it (the proposal) at the finish line itself.”
During the race, Ramesh admitted that his legs nearly succumbed to fatigue in the 28km mark. He resorted to taking short breaks as he approached the finish line. It was only about 300m away from the finish line did Ramesh finally wore his T-shirt which said ‘I will go the distance for you’.
Ramesh completed the 42km marathon at around 6.40am, clocking a time of about 7 hours and 10 minutes. Mithya, who ran the 21km leg, had reached earlier at around 4am. Out of the 8-men team originally planned to run till the finish line for the surprise proposal, only 5 including the groom-to-be himself made it.
“I was very nervous initially and felt so shagged both physically and mentally, but I told myself that I have to be there to put a smile on her face and witness the beauty of it,” Ramesh added.
“I proposed after I completed the race kneeling in front of her with all the cramps and stitches in my body. It was all a struggle and pain but for a beautiful cause!”
The couple plans to register their marriage on 10 Jan next year followed by a traditional wedding eight days later. The animal lovers also hope to embark on a trip to the Savannah’s to watch the wild animals up close.
We don’t know about you, but we at Vulcan Post are touched by his romantic gesture and in awe of his 42km feat!
Also read: Guy Takes Marriage to the Next Step: Proposing through LINE Mascots!
