NYC MARATHON: Runner becomes ‘Finish Line Fiancée’ after race day proposal

The New York City Marathon finish line, in addition to the end of a 26.2-mile race, was the starting line for Marcy Marrero and Julissa Montano. Marrero popped the question right before the finish line.

Well-wishers lined the route with signs such as “Run fast, Molly,” “It will always be New York or Nowhere,” “Stuck between a walk and a hard pace” and “She believed she could so she did.”

It’s unlikely, though, that anyone had a more life-changing sign than Marrero’s. which turned the end of the marathon into the beginning of a marriage.

Marrero waited behind barricades near the finish line with a few family members and a sign saying “From Finish Line To Fiancée.”

Marrerro with her sign at the end of the race. Photo by Claude Solnik

“I had no idea at all,” Montano said after accepting the proposal. “I didn’t expect it at all. I dreamt this would be a big moment for me.”

Born and raised in the Bronx, Montano moved to Miami after the COVID-19 pandemic, returning to New York City for the marathon before becoming the finish line fiancée.

“I had something prepared,” Marrero said, “But I said, ‘You’re the love of my life. Thank you for loving me the way you do. Will you spend the rest of your life with me?”

“Of course, yes.” Montano replied.

The two, who met at a Super Bowl party in South Beach six years ago, have been a couple almost since then.

The couple met in Miami six years ago, and have been together for almost as long.Photo courtesy of Marcy Marrero

“I decided last April that I wanted [to run] the New York City marathon as a goal,” Montano said. “I flew to New York to run a qualifying race and trained that way and in Miami.”

Marrero said the two had discussed getting married, and there were a few hints along the way that this trip could include a big moment.

“We talked about it,” Marrero said. “We’re both in our late 30s. We’re serious about each other. Now’s the perfect moment.”

The marathon itself had become a big part of their life even before the big moment.

“Julissa trained for a very long time to run this marathon and I wanted to make sure that she had all the incentive in the world to finish it, so I had a ring waiting for her and proposed to her at the finish line,” said Marrero. “She did not know about it, but I think she was a little bit ready for it.”

An announcer at the end of the course congratulated participants for completing the marathon, although those words had added meaning for this couple.

“You traveled 26.2 miles,” the announcer said. “Congratulations.”

Montano (left) wearing her marathon medal as the pair pose in the financial district after the marathon. Photo courtesy of Marcy Marrero

Marrero’s parents joined the couple as their daughter popped the question and her fiancée accepted with a smile the size of the Statue of Liberty.

“We knew this was gonna be a big moment for both of them, running the marathon in New York for the first time and getting engaged,” Mireya Vega, Marrero’s mother, said. “So we felt that we needed to be here to enjoy this special moment and support them both.”

After the marathon and the marriage proposal, the couple went back to Montano’s family home in the Bronx, where both families celebrated the marathon and engagement.

“I think she knew that it might be coming,” Marrero said, “But I don’t know that she thought that it was gonna be today.”