The Alexandra Harrier Club ended a major drought when it won the Peninsula Relay on Saturday.
Not since Waimate in 1993 had a team from outside Dunedin won the 61-year-old trophy.
The last time Alexandra won was in 1980, and its victory on Saturday was attributed to girl power, with Rose Wilson and Kathy MacLachlan playing key roles.
Competing from the 6min mark, Alexandra began to feature when club president John Watson capitalised on some good uphill running from team-mates Ewan Fallow, Michael Kotkamp and Rupert Bromby.
Watson got his team into contention following the interminable 7.1km fourth leg between Pukehiki and Hoopers Inlet Rd.
After the first four legs of the eight-stage, 38.5km relay, Watson handed over to Wilson, with Alexandra in fourth place.
Wilson set about reeling in the teams ahead of her and getting within striking distance of leader Hill City No 1. The gutsy run from Wilson on 4km of gravel road between Portobello and Cape Saunders served to inspire the team, as she handed on to Peter Sarson for the 7km loop back into Portobello around the Papanui Inlet.
Ahead of Sarson was age-group international Shauna Pali, fresh from placing sixth at the Australian schools cross-country, who was aiming to hold out the chase from Alexandra and extend her team's lead.
But the lack of a lead vehicle and adequate marshalling cost her valuable time, as she had to ask for directions at an intersection at Papanui Inlet.
Pali found herself guessing the correct direction as she gambled on following the inlet further around. It was only by chance that a support vehicle overtook her and got to the Weir Rd turnoff, giving her some sort of certainty as to where to go.
Sarson, a veteran of 60 marathons over the past decade, struggled on the climb up Weir Rd. But he soldiered on with the luxury of being far enough back and able to determine course direction by what was unfolding ahead of him.
Pali returned to speed with a vengeance once she returned to Portobello Rd, handing her team a massive 2min 6sec lead.
But Alexandra's Merv Bird overhauled this deficit on the short 3.2km run into Broad Bay, turning it into a 36sec lead at the final change.
MacLachlan then handled the testing 4.9km pinch to the finish at Macandrew Bay, bringing the Alexandra team across the line for a memorable victory in 2hr 44min 56sec.
Second to finish was Leith Blue, while Pali's Hill City team held out to finish third. Caversham No 1 recorded fastest time with 2hr 13min 7sec.
