IRONMAN Adam Naylor crossed the finishing line more elated than most — knowing his girlfriend had said yes to his marriage proposal.

The University of Bolton sport science lecturer asked his partner to marry him while still taking part in the triathlon by pulling a T-shirt over his kit with the words 'Will you marry me Debs?'.

The 31-year-old said: “She won’t have seen it coming, but we’re having a baby in September, so it was on the cards at some point.

“As I ran through the town centre after she’d said yes — I saw her mouth yes as she shouted it —I got loads of cheers.”

He came up with the idea after talking to his married friends about marriage proposals and alongside his strict training regime, he planned the proposal.

Adam, who completed the gruelling triathlon in 12: 40: 45 added: “ When I put the T-shirt on, the ladies said ' ah' and the lads were asking if she said yes. Debs always supports me when I take part in events like this.

“She is there from the start and I wanted to make her a part of it. I work in Bolton, this was happening in Bolton, it was a fantastic atmosphere and I wanted to share it with her. We hit it off as soon as we met, and it has been a great year.”

Debbie Boughton, aged 37, who is a speech and language therapist, said: “The proposal was epic – I was just blown away.”

Adam beat his time of 13:54:09 at Ironman Wales last September.

This year he also helped colleague Sarah Nicholson completed the challenge in 14:50.

Adam, who lives in Sale, said: “I’ve done similar events before, but this was tough. The weather conditions were poor and it was blowing a gale so that made the cycling stage particularly difficult. I enjoy the challenge of pushing my body to those sorts of limits and getting as much out of my body as I can.

“It wasn’t a one-off for me and I have other events coming up, including cycling races and more triathlons.

“My long-term goal is to achieve a world qualification and each year I just want to get quicker and stronger.”