Anyone who has ever stood near the end of a marathon course will have seen the emotional, physical and mental agony runners put themselves through to reach that finish line.
It sounds a bit like the start of a joke - the one about the solicitor, the chef and the seismologist.
Throw in a police inspector and it sounds like a cracker!
They are among the top contenders for tomorrow's Lion Foundation Rotorua Marathon, as reported in today's sport section.
The marathon is truly an iconic Rotorua event and while the elite runners are a crucial part of the race, sprinting down that finishing straight as if they've just been for a Sunday morning jog, its beauty is that it's an event anyone can aspire to be part of.
We all have our marathon memories - whether it's the first time we made the run around the lake ourselves (sadly, not a memory of mine), travelling to the city to support family members (that one I can tick off ) or just standing outside your house cheering as hordes of runners stream past.
