“We are distraught”
Andrew Carr and Laura Carr(Image: Laura Carr)
A woman who took part in the Great Manchester Run ‘burst into tears’ after the major feat. But they were not tears of joy and elation, but rather complete devastation after reaching into her pocket.
Laura Carr, 35, from Liverpool, completed the 10k run on Manchester’s Deansgate on Sunday afternoon (May 18) and was due to celebrate the huge achievement with her friends.
Before the marathon, she took off her 22 karat gold wedding ring and put it in her tied pocket, along with her engagement ring, because her ‘fingers swell’ when she runs.
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But as she crossed the finish line, she noticed the sentimental antique band had disappeared and fallen out of the pocket at some point during the race.
The ring was brought over by her partner Andrew’s grandfather from New York in World War II. He had been serving in the merchant navy when he brought the distinctive gold ring back to UK soil for his wife.
The wedding band was lost during the run(Image: Laura Carr)
It is a second devastating blow for the couple, after the same ring was stolen and subject to a police investigation in Merseyside just days before their wedding in 2016. They previously spoke to the Liverpool ECHO after the ring was robbed from a drawer at Andrew’s mum’s house before luckily being returned to them.
Laura told the Manchester Evening News: “I finished the marathon and went into my pocket and realised it wasn’t there and must’ve fallen out. I started crying straight away. I’m devastated.
“I took it off and put it in the pocket with my engagement ring because sometimes by fingers swell when I run. As soon as I finished, I went to put it back on and only my engagement ring was there.
“It got stolen ten days before our wedding nine years ago, but we were hopeful then and it was returned all those years ago. So we are holding out a little bit of hope.”
Laura is ‘devastated’ after the ring fell out of her pocket during the run(Image: Laura Carr)
Andrew said his grandmother’s ring is antique and a rare 22 karat gold band with ‘distinctive marks’ on the inside.
“We are distraught,” he said. “I was doing housework at home when Laura rang me saying she’d lost the ring. My grandad bought it when he was in the merchant navy in New York.
“She was gutted and didn’t really know how to tell me and was crying the second she realised it had gone.
“We know it’s such a big race and such a big city, but if anyone does find it I have registered it with Greater Manchester Police. It was returned to us in the past, so that’s what we are hoping for.”
Around 35,000 people were thought to have taken part in the Great Manchester Run on Sunday. The event, which saw people take part in either a 10K or half-marathon, took place across Greater Manchester with the route heading through the likes of Salford, Trafford, Eastlands and the city centre.