Australian runner Martin Dent blitzed the field with a record-breaking run in the Kepler Challenge near Te Anau on Saturday.
Dent, from Canberra, recorded a time of 4hr 33min 37sec on the challenging 60km mountain terrain course. It broke the record for the Asics-sponsored event of 4hr 37min 41sec, set by Phil Costley in 2005.
Beating a capacity field of 477 on a warm Fiordland day, Dent gained the lead early in the race, on the climb to the Luxmore Hut, and never looked back.
He had never run a 60km race before but that did not seem to faze the 2012 London Olympian.
Dent said he felt in good shape for most of the run but, like all Kepler participants, was feeling the strain near the end.
''The little hills began to feel like big hills,'' he said.
Dent, who hopes to defend his title next year, was ''thrilled'' to run in such a beautiful part of New Zealand.
Vajin Armstrong (Christchurch), winner of the previous three Kepler Challenges, finished second, nearly 20min behind Dent in 4hr 55min 17sec. Rowan Walker, another Australian, was third in 5hr 9min 31sec.
Armstrong was full of praise for Dent's impressive performance. He felt he worked as hard as he could, but was unable to reel in the winner.
For the second year in a row, Napier runner Ruby Muir (22) won the women's event. Her time of 5hr 45min 2sec was almost 8min slower than her winning time last year.
Muir, a leading New Zealand mountain runner, found this year's Kepler Challenge harder than last year. She said she had been spending time training on her bike and that was not the best build-up.
Dunedin's Whitney Dagg was second, and English runner Jean Beaumont was third.
Kepler Challenge organising committee chairman Steve Norris was a happy man after the race.
''The day has gone like clockwork. Warm, calm conditions have been perfect for the event. The track is in excellent condition, thanks to the Department of Conservation. The Te Anau community always gets in behind this event with excellent support from the hundreds of volunteers and our loyal sponsors.''
The sister race, the Luxmore Grunt, was held over the first part of the Kepler Track, up to the Luxmore Hut from the control gates on Lake Te Anau and back along the same route.
The men's winner was Geoff Williamson, from Dunedin, in a time of 2hr 3min 43sec. It was Williamson's first Luxmore Grunt and he found it hard at the top of the mountain.
Troy McAlister, a national under-19 triathlon squad member from Winton, was second in 2hr 7min. Southlander Richard Ford was third in 2hr 9min 27sec.
Dunedin runners claimed a double when Louisa Andrew won the women's race. After only gaining entry to the race a week ago, it was Andrew's first time running the Luxmore Grunt.
Second was local runner Amanda Broughton, in 2hr 34min 17sec. Magrethe Helles (Wanaka) was third, in 2hr 34min 34sec.
