Meet the Great North Run wedding couple planning to leg-it straight from the altar to the start line

May 14, 2015

Author: Tara Green

It will be case of 'here runs the bride' for newlywed Tracy Young.

She is dashing straight from the altar to the Great North Run with her groom.

It is 'get me to the start on time' for both of them as they marry at 11 am - the earliest possible time for a Sunday ceremony in England - before legging it to make the start by the 11.30 am deadline.

Teacher Tracy, 35, a mum-of-one, joked: "I am going to get a dress which is short and light so I can do the run in it.

"I will put some bows on my trainers and go for some romantic running gear as well which is a difficult look to pull off.

"The honeymoon is on the sea front at South Shields."

Daily Mirror

Her fiancé Nik Lamont, who proposed to her after they completed the world's most popular half marathon in 2013, wanted to marry at the finish of this year's event.

But he discovered that you 'need a building' to tie the knot - so they could not use a marquee at the finish.

Instead, the ceremony is at the Great North Museum, right next to the start in Newcastle upon Tyne.

"It is going to be a tight for time," said Nik, 43, a gardener who lives with Tracy in Hamsterley, Co Durham.

"We discovered we could not get married on the run itself or at the finishing line as you need to be in a building with a licence.

(Image:baby blue bridesmaid dresses)

"So we have decided to do our wedding day in reverse and have the reception before the ceremony at 11 am.

"You cannot get married before 11 in this country on a Sunday.

"So we will then have to dash from there to make the start.

"And 11.30 is the absolute latest you can go over the starting line as the race begins at 10.40am.

"We have spoken to the organisers and they are going to make a way for us through the barriers - it will be blatantly obvious who we are!"

NiK, who has two children from a previous marriage, is intending to do the race in top hat and tails combined with his usual running kit.

He joked: "It really is a backwards wedding.

"The museum is the nearest building to the start and we spend a lot of time there so it was perfect.

"We are going to meet our guests at around nine am on the day and have a sort of reception before the ceremony.

"It will then be the most unconventional wedding ever as come 11 it will be 'yes, yes, I do, I do, sign here' and then were are off.

"I may have to make the traditional speech beforehand too.....let's face it, we will be too tired at the end."

His son Zac, 18, is also taking part in the run and may yet be best man.

Daughter Saskia, 15, also from his first marriage, will do the Junior Great North Run the day before the wedding/run on Sept 13, while Tracy's son William, six, from her first marriage, is doing the mini one-kilometre event.

The newlyweds will run together and cross the line hand in hand.

They are hoping to finish the 13.1 mile race in around two and a half hours and then meet up again with their friends and family for a meal.

It is their fourth GNR together.

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Nik added: "We wanted to do something unique, and special.

"We are both marrying for the second time around and so we would rather spend the money on a fantastic holiday than blow £20,000 on the ceremony.

"And we both just love the idea of doing something different."

Tracy, who teaches at the 1,000-pupil Whitworth Park School in Spennymoor, added: "There are no honeymoon plans apart from fish and chips in South Shields, he is an old romantic.

"But I love the fact it is so unique."

Samantha Doyle, sales and marketing manager at the The Great North Museum: Hancock, said it was the first time they had a reception before the ceremony.

"Nik and Tracy are in very safe hands though," she said.

"We have an expert team of staff and chefs and they are already on the starting blocks to make their special day absolutely as perfect - and as precisely timed - as it can be."