Forget the mantelpiece - Balclutha teacher Jason Palmer will have to start planning a complete cabinet after his win in the Moro-sponsored Dunedin marathon yesterday.
Over the past year, Palmer has collected the Otago triathlon, Otago duathlon, Peak to Peak and Naseby Water Race titles.
His time yesterday of 2hr 39min 47sec is a personal best.
His only other road marathon competition was when he ran the Christchurch event in 2008, finishing in a shade over 2hr 40min.
"That was tough. Very tough," an exhausted Palmer gasped at the finish.
Read the results: Dunedin Marathon results
"I've never run this marathon before. All the other marathons I've run have been at the end of an ironman.
"It was quite nice to run a marathon without the swim and the bike beforehand."
Palmer battled over the final 10km yesterday because he had opened up a 5min lead on the field and had no-one to push him through this crucial stage.
The 27-year-old has had little time to train due to a heavy workload in recent weeks. But he decided to enter the marathon because it was a race he had always wanted to do.
His build-up consisted of 30 to 40min runs in the morning and 15min in the evenings.
"It's just about all I can do at the moment. I sort of hoped I'd have a bit of fitness left over from the ironman training.
"With no pool at the moment in Balclutha, I've just been doing a bit of running and biking when I can."
The long-term goal for Palmer remains the New Zealand ironman. He had prepared well for this year's event, only for it to be reduced to half the distance because of weather conditions.
Palmer's fitness base must be solid. Two weeks ago, he and partner Megan Belchin set a course record when they won the team section of the Naseby Water Race.
Palmer has his sights set on the Shotover Mountain Marathon in January.
He hopes to defend his Dunedin title in a year's time - and get a chance to do some specific training for the event.
Dunedin police officer Mel Aitken, the winner of the women's marathon yesterday, has been bitten by the running bug since her run in the Peninsula Challenge earlier this year.
Aitken (35) has been training between 15km and 20km six days a week and loves the time it gives her to clear her thoughts.
Aitken took to the Christchurch course at Queen's Birthday Weekend like a duck to water, completing her first marathon in 3hr 20min.
Her time in winning the Dunedin event yesterday eclipsed this by more than 7min, when she clocked in at 3hr 12min 49sec, leaving the jostling for the minor money in the distance.
Aitken featured over the first 5km but was content to sit in behind early pacemaker Whitney Dagg and Anna Clare O'Connor.
By the 10km mark, Aitken was beginning to take charge of the race. She assumed the lead and continued to build on it right to the finish.
A seesaw battle involving Dagg, O'Connor and Eliza Sim unfolded behind Aitken for the minor places. Sim eventually claimed second in 3hr 20min, and O'Connor was third in 3hr 23min 12sec.
"I'm pretty stoked," Aitken said at the finish.
"I finished fifth in Christchurch and that inspired me to think I might be able to do better this time."
Despite the up-and-down nature of the Dunedin course compared with Christchurch, Aitken found local knowledge worked in her favour.
"I train pretty much over this course every day. So I probably had the advantage in that respect."
• The section of the cycleway down to St Leonard's was not completed before yesterday's marathon, forcing organisers into a late change of course.
The start was switched from the stadium car park to Butts Rd, and the course exit was the same as last year, near Maia.
This caused little disruption to a relatively trouble-free event involving 2034 competitors.
