A stroll around Virginia Lake in Wanganui in 1977 sparked an epiphany for athletics guru Alec McNab.
And a year later that light bulb, "wow" moment, manifested itself into what is now one of the most popular events on the Wanganui sporting events calendar - the annual Secondary Schools Round the Lake Relay.
The retired senior master at Wanganui Collegiate School and now acting director of sport is also a former president of Athletics New Zealand.
His 1977 stroll around Virginia Lake proved an enlightening exercise. It reminded him of competing in the annual Universities relay in Hyde Park, London, when he was at Loughborough College in his homeland.
"The Universities relay was around the Serpentine Lake with each of four runners running one three mile lap of the lake. The relay attracted over 100 teams annually and was a highlight of the university running calendar," McNab recalled.