Running Bride Says “I Do” on Las Vegas Marathon Course

Amongst Running Elvi, thousands of marathoners and even a couple of Bengal tigers, Mary Knott and Dan Beaver undertook their most important endurance event yet—marriage.

Most brides have a short walk down the aisle, just long enough so wedding goers can melt a bit as they look at the bride’s beauty, just long enough for the wedding party to assemble at the front of the ceremony. But Mary Knott isn’t most brides.

Her “walk” down the aisle was actually a run of 3 ½ miles down the Las Vegas Strip to get to the wedding altar—aka the Eiffel Tower at the Paris Hotel. And though the bride did wear white, it’s fair to say most women don’t choose their wedding dresses from a line of running skirts, or use a water bottle as the base for their bouquet. There were other unusual details, of course, but when it comes to expressing love and commitment, everyone has their own way of doing things. And for Mary and (now husband) Dan Beaver, there was no better place to express their love and commitment than surrounded by other runners.

They weren’t the only ones who felt that way. The 2009 Run-Thru Wedding, held December 6 around mile 3.5 of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon and Half-Marathon course, was the setting for more than 85 couples who married or renewed their vows in a short group ceremony officiated by Reverend Jamie Firzlaff, who also ran the half-marathon. The minister and the couples took off at the starting line (where two caged Bengal tigers were in the crowd), stopped for the ceremony in front of the Paris Hotel, then continued on to complete either the half-marathon or the full marathon. And though Mary and Dan are both hardcore triathletes and marathoners, they chose to take it a bit easier on their special day and run “just” the half marathon (13.1 miles).

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I talked with Mary the week before her wedding to hear about the special role running plays in her relationship with Dan, why a marathon course was a perfect setting for her wedding, and how she proposed.

Read on for more…

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