Oz couple run off after marathon wedding

Melbourne, July 23 (ANI): Australian childhood sweethearts tied the knot halfway through a 42km marathon at the Hunter Valley on Sunday.

After jogging 21km side by side during this year's Coal and Allied Winery Running Festival, Sally Marler, 31, and Daniel Drayton, 34, promised to stay forever by each other's side in a "wedding on the run" in Audrey Wilkinson Vineyard.

But after crossing the finishing line, the newly wed couple disappeared.

Marler's older sister Kate Wadwell said that the "active couple" exchanged vows in front of about 20 guests in an intimate 20-minute ceremony that "suited them perfectly".

"They met in their teens and had been engaged for quite a few years," the Daily Telegraph quoted Wadwell, whose daughter Georgia was a flower girl, as saying.

"They're both very active, doing lots of sporting activities. They'd been planning this wedding for a little while and it suits their interests perfectly," she said.

Paul Humphreys, spokesman for H Events that set up the photo and organised the race, revealed that the couple had approached him about four months ago. He said that the marriage was official.

"They said they were locals and had run the marathon in the past and were keen to get married here. It's a beautiful spot to get married," he added. (ANI)