Said Day: "James is on his last legs so he's getting on a little."
Parsons: "He's younger than me and has been training longer by about a year."
Jocularity aside, the pair are thriving under coach Craig Kirkwood, of Tauranga, in preparation for the Air New Zealand Hawke's Bay International Marathon on May 14.
In fact, a further endorsement of Kirkwood's mentoring is Kyle Macdonald, of Tauranga, coming in third.
The blokes, who train five days a week, not only enjoy the distraction from their demanding work schedules but have noticed incremental gains in their physical and mental approach to running.
"It sounds a bit stupid but I'm running faster now but I'm training less," said Parsons, the 2014 Queenstown Marathon champion, who grappled with his injury demons most of last year because he was running too much.
It was Day who subscribed to Kirkwood's prescription a few years ago "to find more direction" in his running before Christchurch-born Parsons bought into his gospel last December, after arriving in the Bay last winter on the heels of his partner to work at the Hawke's Bay Regional Hospital in Hastings.
"It's good to train with James and he's stronger at the end so he sort of pulls me along," said Day, who doesn't have a plan as such but is keen to see how fast he can run in what is "just a hobby".
Kirkwood actually paced the pair on Saturday before withdrawing at the halfway mark.
"You start a lot faster and then just hold on, don't you?"
He was happy to finish a shade more than a minute behind Parsons, seeing it as a dramatic improvement from when he finished fifth and almost two minutes adrift at the Cigna Round the Bays in Wellington on February 21.
Day will be competing in his first Bay marathon but has run two half marathons here.
He clocked 2:40 in the Auckland Marathon last year but is hoping to shave five minutes off it here.
Day has won a couple of half marathons and 10km runs "but nothing major".
Parsons, who was delighted to have come under the pre-race 1h 10m mark on Saturday, hopes to clock a sub-2:30 time in May. "I should be all right. Nah, I'll crunch it," he said with a laugh.
Having done the hard yards in his medical profession, Parsons has been relishing leaving behind the hectic 55 to 60-hour night and weekend shifts at the hospital for the more sedate 40-plus ones now to dedicate more quality time to his training.
He was bereft of ideas on where his running genes come from with neither of his parents having a background in it but did note his elder sister, Renee, a public relations professional in Christchurch, was adept in athletics at school.
"I remember beating her over 3km one day when I was 13 years old so I enjoyed that."
On Saturday, Hamilton runner Sarah Murphy was the first female with a PB of 1h 25m 14s with Megan Grant behind her in four minutes in a field of 545 runners and walkers.
In the 10km run, Jamie Fisher, of Napier, was second in the male 31 to 40-year-old category, clocking 50m 51s but finishing 28th overall.
Chris Myland, of Tauranga, won the distance overall, less than two minutes ahead of the first female, Zara Fowell.
