Jonah Smith had no trouble defending his Otago 10,000m title at the Caledonian Ground on Saturday.
The Caversham runner led the small field from start to finish and was well out on his own after just three laps.
Smith, who won as a junior in 2011 and 2012, went through the 5.2km mark in 18min 6sec, before finishing the 25-lap race in 35min 57.43sec.
It was quicker than his time a year ago as a first-year senior, when he won in 36min 49.28sec.
The 21-year-old had hoped to clock a quicker time on Saturday, but was always going to struggle without someone pushing him at the front.
Leith runners Jason Palmer and Rob Creasy were expected to compete, but Palmer was injured and Creasy was a no-show despite entering.‘‘It's a bit of a shame. I had hoped to race those guys,'' Smith said after the race.
Danny Baillie, of Leith, was at least within 25sec of Smith after seven laps, but he pulled up lame with a calf injury at the 3.6km mark.
Smith is now considering entering the national 10,000m championships in Auckland on January 30.
‘‘It would be good to do it with some competition in the field, but I'd want to make sure it's worth it. There is always a small but very good field up there. They are all top-notch guys,'' he said.
Smith will run the 5000m, and is contemplating entering the steeplechase, at the national track and field championships at the Caledonian in March.
Shireen Crumpton (34), of Hill City-University, won the senior women's race in 37min 56.76sec, while Hanna English (18), of Ariki, won the women's under-19 section in 39min 21.80sec.
Myrtle Rough (75), of Hill City-University, broke yet another national masters record in the 75-79 age group.
Rough, who has already broken the age-group's 800m, 1500m, 3000m and 5000m records this season, added the 10,000m record to her name.
She crossed the line in 54min 8.11sec, shattering Ailsa Forbes' 1986 mark of 67min 24.35sec by more than 14min in the process.
It was not the only record set at the final track and field meet at the Caledonian Ground this year.
Para athlete Anna Grimald (18), who won bronze in the T47 long jump at the International Paralympic Committee world championships in Doha in October, broke the national T47 100m record.
The Taieri athlete clocked 13.27sec on Saturday to finish third behind Christina Ashton (12.64sec), of Taieri, and Maddy Spence (13.21sec), of Hill City-University, in the girls 18-19 years race.
Ariki's Bill Murphy (63) also finished the 2015 part of the season on a high, when he set an Otago masters 60-65 years record over 60m (8.72sec).
The next track and field meet at the Caledonian will be on January 16.
