Richard Ussher described his fifth Longest Day victory in the Coast to Coast as his "smartest race".
Ussher crossed the finish in 11hr 33min 24sec, with Dougal Allan, of Wanaka, second for a third straight year in 11hr 52min 3sec, and Braden Currie, also of Wanaka, third in 11hr 57min 46sec.
Ussher (35) made an initial break at the beginning of the 55km cycle stage to Aickens, but it was covered immediately by Allan, Currie and Jeremy McKenzie (Blenheim).
By 40km the four had opened up a 3min lead over the chase group.
They maintained their advantage into the the alpine run section at Deception. Here, Currie took the initiative and began to run away from the group.
James Coubrough (Wellington) was the big mover coming off the bike at Aickens. He had caught Ussher, Allan and McKenzie by Big Boulders, around 10km into the uphill slog to Goat Pass, by which time Currie had stretched his lead to 2min 52sec.
Currie maintained his advantage over Goat Pass, but Coubrough's international mountain-running class was evident as he raced 45sec clear of Ussher, with Allan and McKenzie a further 50sec back and drifting off the demanding pace being set up front.
It was here that the wheels began to fall of for Allan.
"I went into some really dark places," he said at the finish.
Currie set a torrid pace on the descent to Klondyke and the transition to the 15km cycle section to Mt White Station Bridge, the start of the 67km kayak section, holding a 2min 25sec advantage over Coubrough with Ussher a further 35sec back.
Ussher snapped up second place early into the 15km bike, but still trailed Currie by 2min 23sec going on to the water.Coubrough was 2min further back and Allan, who had recovered some lost ground, a further 5min back in fourth.
A reconnaissance paddle the day before may have paid off for Ussher, as he found some good lines, while remaining conservative in his approach over the first 50km before putting the hammer down and overtaking Currie for the lead.
"It was a pretty long paddle out there today, with a head wind and low river, so you've just got to conserve and make sure you can finish the whole thing really strong," Ussher said.
He continued to stretch his lead after this, leaving Currie and Coubrough to battle for second and third.
While Ussher was riding with the comfort of a substantial lead over the closing stages of the bike to Sumner, Allan was discovering a second wind, pulling back some of his lost ground to come back into contention for a top three place.
He reeled in Coubrough then overtook Currie with Sumner in his sights.
Woodend accountant Nathan Jones displayed little effects from a recent hamstring injury to claim the men's two-day title in 12hr 20min.
Second-placed Nathan Bell (Fairlie) recorded 12hr 46min 22sec, with Marcel van Reenen (Kumara) third in 13hr 7min 55sec.
Tim Johnson, of Dunedin, finished seventh in 13hr 32min 43sec and Sam Cosgrove was 10th in 13hr 45min 54sec.
