Auckland runner Sam Dobson has claimed his first Lion Foundation Rotorua Marathon title after holding off a three-time champion around Lake Rotorua.
Remarkably, Dobson was competing in only his third marathon to date when he won the tight race on Saturday.
"I'm pretty stoked to be honest, there was a lot of hard work going into this, so it is good it paid off."
Dobson, 29, was in a lead group of five runners on Saturday which stuck together until about the 30km mark.
Slowly but surely runners started dropping off from the front bunch until there was only two runners left - Dobson and Phil Costley (Nelson), a three-time champion.
"It was just the two of us and I thought okay I just have to sit with him now and wait for an opportunity to go," Dobson said. "I thought I might have the speed over the last couple of kilometres and it worked out like that."
He finished in a time of 2h 29min 4s, 27s ahead of a much older Costley, who is now aged 45.
"Sam just hung in there and had the speed on me at the end," Costley said. "But that is the way it goes when you have 20 years on you kind of thing."
Costley, a teacher from Nelson, is a regular at the Rotorua Marathon having won here on three occasions. He said he was still hungry to win one more to match his sister Jillian's record.
"She has won it four times and I have only had it three, and I keep thinking I will have to get my fourth before I call it quits."
Image 1 of 13: Conrad Langridge
Jonathan Jackson (Auckland) closed out the men's podium finishing 1m 22s behind the winner.
About 25 minutes after Dobson burst through the winner's tape, Japanese runner Naoko Tsuchiya did the same to claim the women's title.
The first local home was Lake City Athletic Club runner Adrian Lysaght, from Tokoroa, who finished 12th overall.
Lysaght completed the Boston Marathon less than two weeks ago and still managed to stop the clock at under three hours on Saturday.
He has now completed 21 marathons and finished in under three hours on every occasion.
The Rotorua Marathon is now in its 51st year and includes one 42km lap around Lake Rotorua, finishing next to the Energy Events Centre.
Rotorua Marathon results on Saturday:
• Marathon men: 1 Sam Dobson (Auckland) 2:29:04, 2 Phil Costley (Nelson) 2:29:31, 3 Jonathan Jackson (Auckland) 2:30:26.
• Marathon women: 1 Naoko Tsuchiya (Japan) 2:53:24, 2 Erin Furness (Hamilton) 2:55:17, 3 Katie Wyrill (Auckland) 2:58:07.
• Half marathon men: 1 Tim Stewart (Hamilton) 1:08:28, 2 Michael Voss (Rotorua) 1:08:36, 3 Josh Maisey (Auckland) 1:08:42.
• Half marathon women: 1 Lisa Robertson (Auckland) 1:15:34, 2 Alice Mason (Auckland) 1:16:18, 3 Serena Hammond (Thames) 1:22:27.