Only the few and fortunate get to combine their careers with their hobby.

In a roundabout way, Marina Jones, the fastest Bermudian woman in Sunday's International Race Weekend Marathon, is one of them.

The 28-year-old daughter of veteran golf pro Eardley Jones is a recent kinesiology graduate from the University of Waterloo and is working as a physiotherapist in nearby Brampton, Ontario, about 20 miles northwest of Toronto.

And she's the first to admit her work goes a long way towards aiding her four-year-old running career -- and vice versa.

"Kinesiology is the study of human movement, so learning how the body works is a definite help, especially recognising and recuperating from injuries,'' she said.

That came in handy on Monday as Jones returned to Canada after finishing 47th overall, with a time of three hours, 32 minutes and 43 seconds.

"At about 16 miles, I really started dehydrating and started to feel it in my legs,'' she recalled. "When I hit 25, I started to speed up and my legs cramped. I just tried to ignore the pain. That last mile was a killer.'' Also a killer was the wind along North Shore Road, which she called "treacherous.'' Jones not only surprised three-time winner and Island veteran Kim Mason, who finished nearly five minutes behind, she also surprised herself with the win.

Still, Jones, who ran most of the race by herself after passing Mason at the seven-mile mark, said she had hoped for a faster time -- somewhere in the neighbourhood of 3:20.

She had run five previous marathons, clocking 3:19 in the Canadian International in Toronto last October. But in Bermuda she was mostly known for running short distances, alongside her sisters, Zina and Gina.

She began training in November, including a few runs in the bitter cold and snow, but took time to travel to Bermuda in order to acclimatise herself with the weather, including two weeks before the race.

Jones conceded the relative warmth and humidity of Bermuda made the race more difficult, although not as difficult as her first marathon while a student in 1994.

"I swore I would never do another one, it was so hard,'' Jones recalled of the Toronto run that took four hours. Indeed, it was two years later before she tried another, in Washington, D.C. She slashed a half hour off her time, wasn't deterred by the pain and "ran the last mile just as hard as the first.'' Now she regularly turns in 50-mile weeks, including 22 milers up to four times prior to a marathon. She'll be keeping that schedule because she's already planning on running the Boston Marathon in April.

"I don't want to run the same marathon once but in the case of Bermuda I'll make an exception,'' she said.

Eardley Jones said he and his wife Jeanette were "very proud'' of their daughter. Despite growing up in a golfing household, she only tried that sport as a youngster before turning to violin and, ultimately, running.

MARINA JONES -- already planning her next marathon in Boston.