WORK and play are normally worlds apart but the two pastimes will merge at this weekend's Great Ocean Road Marathon.Three Corangamite Shire Council workers have entered the endurance competition and are ready to test themselves.Communications officer Brooke Barnewall will make her debut with strategic planning and environment manager Sophie Segafredo and finance department staffer Simon Spehr.They will join a strong contingent of Warrnambool and district athletes including Stephen Kerr and Jade Frankel.The event comprises 6.5kilometre and 14-kilometre races on Saturday and 23kilometre and 45-kilometre races on Sunday Barnewall admitted she was nervous heading into Saturday's event."My training regime hasn't consisted of much. I'm just hoping it will all come together at the starting line," she said."A group of Port Campbell mothers have been running together on the weekends and doing boot camp so we thought we would take up the challenge. "I'm determined to keep running and not stop."Barnewall will compete in the 14km event. She is no stranger to running, having been used to tough workouts at the Port Campbell Surf Life Saving Club."But that was eight years ago. The longest run I have ever done is 10 kilometres. Really, once you pass that initial barrier you can run for hours."Segrafredo will compete in the half-marathon on Sunday. It will be the second time she's competed in the 23km event."It's beautiful. There's no better place to run," she said.Segrafredo, a keen swimmer when she lived in Sydney, started running three years ago when she moved to Camperdown. "Camperdown's pool was closed for half the year and I needed to still do something."I tried walking but that only lasted a few weeks and then I started running."Warrnambool's Frankel will compete in his third half-marathon and is looking to better his performance from last year."I finished fifth in one hour and 21 minutes last year which was my best time. "It would be great to better my time but I don't think I will be able to better the position. "Four African runners are competing this year and I don't think I would be in the same league as them so there's the first four positions gone," Frankel laughed.Warrnambool Surf Life Saving Club president Kerr will run the half-marathon with his brother, Phillip."We are also running with Toby Pettigrew. The plan is to run together and help each other along."