The annual handicapped race was opened to women for the first time in 1982. Sue O'Sullivan (Hill City, 1983), Ros Dowland (Caversham, 1985) and Kerry Rowley (Caversham, 2010) have won outright since then.
Gnanalingam, an age-group representative in hockey for Wellington, attended the University of Otago between 2004 and 2007 and played hockey for University before returning to Wellington.
She returned to Dunedin earlier this year for her master's degree, and put hockey aside to pursue her love of Dunedin's scenic tracks and trails, joining the Leith Harrier Club.
New to the local harrier scene, she was not sure what to expect in Saturday's Port Chalmers to Dunedin event.
"I thought it was all run along the main road," she said after the race.
"It wasn't until yesterday I found out it was mostly on the old road."
She was unsure how she would perform in the event, although one or two of her clubmates had voiced their enthusiasm at her 7min handicap.
From the start, Gnanalingham appeared comfortable and to be running within herself, handling the hill sections with apparent ease.
She first became a prospect on the run down from Roseneath, having reduced her handicap by 5min to be just 2min behind the front markers. By St Leonard's, she was just 40sec away from the lead.
Hitting the front at Burkes, she felt "a little lost", but rather than let it play on her mind, she decided to keep going and see what happened. All she hoped for was "no more hills".
By Maia, she had opened up a lead of 1min 33sec, which in the end was enough to hold out the fast-finishing Shauna Pali and Gene Sanderson, as she crossed the finish line in Butts Rd in an actual time of 57min 19sec.
Pali was second, recording an impressive 50min 1sec, while Sanderson clinched his first open men's title, finishing third on the line and recording an actual time of 51min 58sec.
Despite a number of masters age-group titles, Sanderson (57) was pleased to have finally achieved his first open title, given the high number of top results he has achieved since taking up running as a sport 15 years ago.
"Guess that's not a bad result for a broken-down old jockey," he joked at the finish.
Sanderson was forced to retire as a jockey after falling from his mount in 1978 and fracturing his skull.
Fastest-time honours were achieved by Daniel Balchin, who clocked 43min 33sec. Pali was the fastest open woman.
