Buscomb dominated the senior women's field of the national road championships in Dunedin on Saturday.
Buscomb (23), a barista in Hamilton, was no stranger to age-group road titles in her teens, winning the youth title in 2005 and 2006 and junior title in 2007.
She went into Saturday's race as one of the favourites after winning the Waikato road title in a smart time of 34min.
Buscomb stole an early lead from the rest of the women's field, quickly opening up a decisive advantage on Georgie Grgec (Auckland) and Waikato Bay of Plenty team-mate Sally Gibbs.
It was an impressive performance from Gibbs, who had earlier put daylight second to win the masters women's crown.
In the combined field with the senior men's event, Buscomb found herself isolated.
''I found I just couldn't get on to the bottom of the guys' group,'' she said, ''so I found I was by myself for a long time.''
With Buscomb isolated on the 10km course, it became a test of willpower as the 2km loop course offered up technical challenges with its twists and turns.
Added to that was a persistent harbour breeze that increased in intensity as the race unfolded.
''With an even course, you can get into a rhythm,'' she said.
''But with this you had to keep focusing the whole way. It was very hard. It was as much a mental effort as it was a physical effort.''
Buscomb will now have a week or two off before getting back into her base training and continuing with her plan to build towards next year's track and field championships.
Buscomb finished in a time of 34min 22sec. Grgec was second in 35min 4sec and Gibbs claimed the bronze in 25min 19sec.
''I wanted to run a little bit faster, but the course itself wasn't as fast as I may have thought,'' Buscomb said.
''But I'm really happy to get the title.''
A specialist 3000m runner, Buscomb has won the national 3000m crown for the past two years and is aiming for a threepeat in next year's national track and field championships. She also finished runner-up in the senior women's 1500m earlier this year.
It was a harsh introduction to the murky depths of the senior women's ranks for Rebekah Greene, who was the best of the Otago representatives in the field, finishing 10th in 38min 25sec.
Otago's other representative, Debbie Lynch, was 13th in 39min 46sec.
