Two runners in one race beat the 10 Dunedin Town Hall clock chimes for the first time.
Andrew Moore (Hill City) won the annual 243m Timebuster sprint around the Octagon in 33.04sec on Saturday and club-mate Toby Flett was second in 34.14sec.
Both runners beat the 10 chimes that rang out in the city at 10am.
New Zealand 400m champion Cory Innes (Taieri) was the first runner to beat the chimes when he ran a record time of 31.63sec last year.
He is competing in Australia and did not compete this year.
The women's race was won by Bethany Struthers (Taieri) in 38.39sec from Lauren Wilson (Hill City) in 38.90sec.
The sprint around the Octagon has become one of New Zealand's unique foot races and is part of the entertainment for Dunedin's annual market day.
Moore (24), a masters student in business at the University of Otago, received the winner's cheque of $300 and an extra bonus of $250 for beating the 10 chimes for the race that started and finished outside the New Zealand Shop.
Flett also received a $250 bonus for beating the chimes on top of his $150 for finishing second.
"I'm a struggling student and the cheque will pay a few of my bills," Moore said.
Moore contested the race on one other occasion in 2004 when he ran 36sec.
It gave him an insight into the tactics he needed to use.
He is a 400m specialist and recorded the fastest time in the country this season when he clocked 46.95sec at Invercargill last week.
"I wanted to get to the front as fast as I could and get to the top of the hill first," Moore said.
"I could then relax down the slope and dictate the pace. It was difficult for anyone to go around the outside."
The third of the 10 chimes rang out just after Moore reached the top of the hill and the sixth chime was heard when he passed the Regent Theatre.
"I couldn't hear the chimes but I could smell the aroma of the hot dog stalls," Moore said.
The odds looked promising but the exhausting uphill stretch to the finish was still to come.
"I thought it would last forever but the finish came a lot quicker," he said.
"I looked up and saw the finish line and went for it. I had relaxed down the hill and had more energy at the end."
Flett (16), in his first Timebuster, had challenged Moore up the first hill and was close behind him around the rest of the course.
But he could not get past.
He sprinted hard at the finish and sped over the line as the clock struck 10.
Struthers (18) was competing in her third Timebuster, knew the course and was clear about the tactics she wanted to use.
She had finished runner-up in 2007, was third last year and desperately wanted to win.
Struthers was the first woman to the top of the hill and then let herself fly down the slope to the Regent Theatre.
She was aware of the Town Hall clock chiming as she sped around the Octagon.
"I knew what to do and felt sorry for the young girls who were in the race for the first time," Struthers said.
"I felt confident on the downhill and around the last bend."
