Birthday Party, Proposal at Brentwood 5k Race

Two life events were celebrated at the Reindeer Run 5k race, sponsored by the Mid-County YMCA in Brentwood on Saturday.

A woman turning 40 in 2012 celebrated by running 40 races in the year, and the Reindeer Run was her 40th.

Susan Glass, of Granite City, IL, turned 40. Her brothers from North Carolina and sisters from Minnesota and Frontenac, MO, ran the 40th race with her. The day also happened to be their mother's 80th birthday.

See more photos at Maplewood-Brentwood Patch Facebook.

The other big event, was a proposal for marriage at the race's end.

Greg Mallin said knew Julie Mannarino was the one after the second date, and that's when he got the ring he gave her on Saturday. It was a year and a half from the first date to the proposal, Mannarino said.

The two share a house in Richmond Heights.

"I never know how I was going to propose to someone, growing up, but we do a lot of races together," Mallin said.

"We're both very athletic, and I got the ring, and that night, I was like, 'I want to do a race, and propose at the finish line,'" he said.

Mallin said Mannarino is faster than he is, so he arranged to have his slower cousin run with her to slow her down, and he ran as fast as he could.

Mannarino said it was a total surprise.