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A series of burners around the 30km mark gave Matt Smith, from Christchurch, the advantage to win yesterday's Auckland marathon.
The 32-year-old's bursts of pace were enough to break clear of Tauranga's Ben Ruthe at 32km.
Once in the lead, Smith had an untroubled run over the final
10km, to finish relatively fresh in 2h 20m 41s, a minute and a half ahead of Ruthe.
Smith said: "Ben is a quiet runner so I didn't know straight away that I had dropped him. I ran at quite a speed for three kilometres, racing off a real boost I got from going into the lead.
"I did ease off a bit towards the end as I didn't want my legs to start shutting down. I held it together fine, but I was looking forward to getting to the end," he added.
Smith had the benefit of going with a few of the half marathon runners from the start, with Ruthe in tow.
In perfect marathon conditions, little or no breeze, cool with some light rain, the pair went through the half way mark in just under 1h 11m, and stayed together to the turn on Tamaki Drive in St Heliers.
On the return journey to the city, Smith put the hammer down, quickly establishing a rhythm and control over the race.
Ruthe said that Smith was relentless with his surges.
"He kept pouring on the pace and pouring on the surges," said Ruthe.
His only disappointment was being pipped by my mother [Julie] by five seconds as she completed the half marathon.
Joe Piggin was third in 2h 27m 43s, with Stephen Lett fourth in 2h 28m 23s.
Ironman triathlon exponent Adrianne Ngawati, who likes to be known as Ady, sprung a surprise winning the women's section in 2h 49m 5s. Pre-race favourite Tracey Clissold was forced to withdraw after leading through to the 30km marker.
"I pulled out at Mission Bay with trouble with my right achilles," said Clissold.
"I thought it was going to snap, it felt like it had a rod in it.
"I was gutted as I had felt really good and was right on my splits for a 2h 42m marathon," she added.
Clissold's misfortune was Ngawati's gain as she closed in.
"I felt real good chasing her down. I had Jo Lawn out there giving me encouragement and pushing me the whole way, said Ngawati.
"It is a big surprise for me to win, as it is a personal best time as well.
"It is absolutely fantastic, as I had set a goal of 2h 50m."
The lecturer in sport and recreation had a previous best of 2h 55m 38s, set in winning her hometown marathon in Whangarei last month.
The 30-year-old from Ngapuhi in the North was fifth in the 2002 New Zealand Ironman in Taupo and also fifth in the Florida Ironman in 2003.
Johanna Ottosson from Rotorua was second in 2h 53m 16s with Lesley Turner Hall taking third in 3h 0m 37s.
Dale Warrander, from New Plymouth, opted for the half marathon this year after winning the full marathon last year. He led from the start to win in 1h 6m 52s.
Warrander had a 1m 5s lead after 10km passed in 31m 18s, which he extended to 2m 17s at the end.
"I had expected the other guys to stay with me a bit longer.
"Once I had the lead I treated it like a tempo run, got into a rhythm which I held to the finish," he said.
Warrander added that he is getting back to his old self again.
"I'm feeling stronger and fitter with each week's training."
Sam Dobson, fourth in 2005, won the battle for second outsprinting Matt Dravitzki and Iain Macdonald in 1h 9m 9s.
Suzi Richards from Kapiti Coast won the women's half marathon in 1h 18m 55s, from Sarah Christie and Sally Ward.
The mens' and women's quarter marathons were won by Samantha Warriner and Brett Tingay of Christchurch.
Around 11,000 runners took part, with 7500 crossing the Harbour Bridge in the marathon and half marathon.
