Lake was quietly confident he would repeat last year's feat, which was the first time he had entered the event.
"I didn't know who else was going to be in the event, that was the big unknown," Lake said.
"I was pretty confident that I could run faster than last year just because of another year of training and another year of doing these silly long runs."
Breaking the eight-hour barrier was something about which Lake was particularly pleased.
Lake, who is a multiple winner of the Tarawera Ultramarathon, admits he does not train as much as most marathon runners but has extraordinary capacity to go through the multiple mental challenges that afflict every runner attempting to run the equivalent of more than two marathons non-stop.
"Most weeks I run 120km, maybe 130km, and there were plenty of weeks I did less than 100km. But for me it is a matter of finding the time to fit in with getting a new business established and the family.
Trying to make it all work is always a challenge.
"The winter months are all about the cross-country and the road running season, which is good strength training for the legs, and then the summer months there is the Tuesday night athletics, which helps keep the speed in the legs.
"It works out really well. It is a good combination with the distance training as well."
In the women's 100km race in Christchurch, Mount Maunganui based ultra marathon runner Shannon-Leigh Litt, 35, pushed eventual winner Dawn Tuffery, 31, from Hamilton hard over the first 50km, before having to settle for second in 9:17.43.
