Thompson (37), a Dunedin physiotherapist, has amassed distance titles throughout his senior athletic career, but the Otago cross-country crown has proved elusive. He has finished runner-up on many occasions.
But Thomson's hopes on Saturday almost got buried in Waikouaiti mud, when he had to stop and retrieve a shoe that slipped off in heavy mud.
Then, in his haste to get back to the leading bunch, he slipped down a bank.
Thompson, a past national marathon champion and six-time winner of the Three Peaks mountain race, showed dogged determination in getting back to the head of the field.
Thompson had helped form a leading bunch at the first of five hill climbs that included Hill City-University club mates Drew Cairney, Kirk Madgwick and Andrew Pohl, along with Blair Martin (Caversham).
At the first descent, defending junior champion Cairney turned on the heat, in an attempt to break away. But Thompson and Madgwick settled into his solid pace, with Martin in pursuit and Pohl becoming isolated in their wake.
Despite Thompson's brush with disaster, the Hill City-University trio remained in control up front, travelling at a competitive pace given the heavy footing.
With two laps remaining, Thompson kicked into overdrive, and within the blink of an eye opened up a 10sec lead on Madgwick, with Cairney taking the 6km junior men's title in 21min 32.7sec.
Thompson, displaying no sign of discomfort from his earlier mishaps, remained in control over the final 4km, taking the 10km senior title in 36min 41sec. Madgwick was second in 36min 58sec and Martin third in 37min 19sec.
''It's good to finally get the win under my belt. But it wasn't without some hard work,'' he said.
Hill City-University won its first senior men's team title, with Thompson, Madgwick, Pohl and seventh-placed Alistair Richardson accumulating 14 points, ahead of Caversham second with 33. As stand-alone clubs, Hill City last won the senior men's trophy in 1992, and University in 1975.
It was a family affair on Saturday, as Thompson's wife Bridget won the associated senior women's title on the same 10km course in 46min 19sec.
Bridget Thompson (36), a health performance and quality manager, last had a major victory as a teenager when she won the under-14 cross-country title.
But while victory as a senior athlete had remained elusive for her, this year has marked a turning point, as she has become a feature within the Hill City-University senior women's ranks. In early May she clocked the third fastest 1500m in the senior women's event at the Lovelock Relay, and finished second in the Edmond Cup Steeplechase two weeks ago.
Second to Bridget Thompson on Saturday was Kalli Green in 49min 51sec, and Jennifer Hodgson (Caversham) was third in 52min 40sec.
While Cairney was a convincing winner of the junior men's title, Sophie Smith (Leith) stamped her authority on the junior women's event, and showed she will be a worthy inclusion for club and regional representation in the future.
Smith (19), the national junior mountain running champion, cut out the 6km event in 26min 6sec.
-By Wayne Parsons
