Newsreader Niva Retimanu (47) and her running coach Kiri Price (46) came in last in the Queenstown International Marathon.
They braved atrocious conditions to cross the line just 7sec before the seven-hour cut-off time.
''I was absolutely euphoric,'' Ms Retimanu said.
''I was crying inside at the finish line and it wasn't with pain. When the weather bomb hit, we had 14km to go and were coming into an exposed area. They were pulling people off the course and the ambulance staff said it was dangerous.
"We'd a chance of hypothermia because we didn't have enough clothes. I was the last runner through. I ran 10km with a survival blanket wrapped round me.''
Newstalk ZB's Ms Retimanu and Mrs Price met through Auckland club Get Running, where Mrs Price is a coach.
They are both ambassadors for Achilles International New Zealand and through the charity ran the New York Marathon three weeks ago with a group of disabled runners.
''We were out there in New York for nearly nine hours. The group had three paraplegics, two blind runners and people with disabilities. I was a guide for Felicia Manse, a Wellington runner with mild cerebral palsy.
"So when I was running the Queenstown marathon, I thought 'If they can do it, I can get through this storm'.''
The Queenstown marathon represented another step on a four-year personal journey for the Samoan newsreader.
''Four years ago I was drinking too much, eating too much, smoking, all the bad things, and had put on quite a bit of weight.
''So I took up running and joined Get Running in Mount Eden. I could hardly run to the gate''.
Ms Retimanu trained for the 2012 New York Marathon, which was cancelled because of a storm.
Instead, she ran the Marlborough Marathon, and New York in 2013 and 2014.
''Queenstown is the most memorable marathon for me though. My journey is not about the body, it's about the mental toughness. I'm sore as hell today ... but I'm on cloud nine because I made it.''
